


Fighting Nature

by Imaninja41



Series: Alpha Darth Maul X Omega Jedi Reader [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alpha Anakin Skywalker, Alpha Darth Maul, Alpha Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alpha Qui-Gon Jinn, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/M, Mace Windu Being a Jerk, Omega Reader, Omega Shmi Skywalker, Qui-Gon is a sith, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, but no one knows, except you now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:27:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29239809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imaninja41/pseuds/Imaninja41
Summary: You, the reader, are an omega Jedi that has kept her soulmate marks secret from everyone, even your master, Mace Windu. Why? Because one of them is very clearly written in the long dead Sith language. As tensions with the trade federation rise, and you along with Obi-Wan and Master Qui-Gon Jinn must face an enemy long thought dead, what will become of the force bond slowly forming between you and the soulmate you have yet to meet?Semi-Mary Sue reader (basically I just let you be very skilled with a lightsaber). Rating might go up, who knows? Not me. There's some fairly graphic violence discussed and thought about, though I doubt I'll actually write about it happening to the reader. You are safe from torture, but not from angst. And certainly not from a certain alpha zabrak's cuddles.
Relationships: Darth Maul/Reader
Series: Alpha Darth Maul X Omega Jedi Reader [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157213
Comments: 56
Kudos: 142





	1. Admissions

**Author's Note:**

> Look this is just really self indulgent. I wanna cuddle with Darth Maul in a blanket fort, so ABO Soulmate AU it is.

“Y/N, when I said, let’s meditate together, I didn’t mean ‘let’s pretend to meditate while you actually think about everything you’d rather be doing.”

Your eyes snapped open, giving Obi-Wan a look of annoyance. Breaking your meditation form, you leaned back, still keeping your legs crossed, but putting your weight on your arms, hands resting on the smooth stone floor. This room, filled with various types of hanging plants, was Obi-Wan’s favorite place to meditate. Most of the plants in this room were used to make various types of tea, a hobby several dozen Jedi had. One you were sure Obi-Wan was going to fall into. Meditation wasn’t your favorite way to spend your time, but you tended to humor Obi-Wan’s whims. However, once he was fully indoctrinated in the group of Padawans, Jedi Knights, and Masters you secretly called, “The Tea Snobs” you would hurl yourself off the nearest ledge the second Obi tried to ask you to come garden with him.

The image of Obi wearing big, awkward gardening gloves and one of those straw hats with the wide rim entered your mind. You had seen a Jedi Master who tended those plants wear a simpler one she had tucked a large blue flower into, just last week. The flower was quickly added to your imagined Obi, along with his stupidly wide grin and cheery voice.

“You’re just being mean, now.” Obi-Wan said, making you realize that you had neglected to guard your mind from Obi, and he had definitely seen your thoughts. Especially with the force bond between you two, Obi could usually sense you and your feelings easily.

While attachments were forbidden to the Jedi, force bonds like the one you and Obi had were common. Padawan’s usually had force bonds with their masters and a few agemates.

“Don’t get all pissy with me.” You huffed. “I wanted to spar. You practically dragged me here kicking and screaming.”

“Silently pouting, more like it.” Obi teased, letting himself sink down to the floor next to you.

“That’s the Jedi version of kicking and screaming.” You said, chuckling at your own joke.

“You’ve been troubled lately, I thought meditation would help.” Obi admitted.

You were quiet for a moment, wanting to deny that you had been anything other than fine, but it would be pointless. Obi-Wan was your oldest friend, and saw through you like transparisteel. You could hide nothing from him, though you were able to hide it from your Master quite well. Master Windu was not a Jedi easy to fool, but since the two of you had never developed a force bond, it was much easier to hide something from him than from Obi.

Master Windu had taken a… distant approach to training you. Seeing to it personally that you and he would not develop a force bond, as he believed that it was unnecessary to bond with a padawan you were training.

When you first became a padawan, you spent about two years thinking that the way Master Windu was training you was normal. Until you started going on missions with Master Qui-Gon and his Padawan, and saw what a relationship between a Master and Padawan was supposed to be. Master Windu had allowed you to accompany Master Qui-Gon on a few missions to let you get more experience, seeing as being on the council did not afford him many opportunities to take you on any real missions. Master Qui-Gon, to your relief, had been so much different from Master Windu. He had been open, caring, and involved in both Obi-Wan’s training, and yours. At times, you had felt that Master Qui-Gon was more your Master than Master Windu.

Although your relationship to Obi-Wan and Master Qui-Gon had been strained at first, the years spent more or less together had smoothed the rough edges over. It was a very poorly hidden secret that Master Windu didn’t trust Master Qui-Gon in the slightest, and sticking you on as many missions with him as possible was his way of trying to keep an eye on Master Qui-Gon.

“I found out what that mark means.” You said quietly.

Obi-Wan was quiet for a moment, recalling the day you had shown him your soulmate marks. He hadn’t paid much attention to the small cluster of various gears, bolts, and other mechanical parts on the right side of your neck that traveled down over your right collar bone. He also hadn’t paid too much attention to the fish with yellow eyes on your left hip, or the black silhouette of a bane back spider on your left wrist. He was only focused on the odd word on your right forearm. It was in a language neither of you knew, with odd letters with long stems, sharp angles, and squiggly lines.

“I was in the library, and I just kind of… saw an old holocron talking about the wars with the Sith, and one part of it showed a banner the Sith had made.” You whispered.

Obi-Wan leaned back, eyes widening despite his urges to repress an emotional reaction. “That… that language is the language of the Sith?”

You nodded, regretfully. “It means vengeance.”

Obi-Wan took a breath, wishing he had some kind of advice. “I mean… it’s best if you never meet them anyways.”

“Right.” You said quietly. “I just… the Sith have been extinct for so long… why would my soulmate even know the language? And for the one word to be vengeance? It just seems a little on the nose to me, I guess.”

“Have you told-”

“No.” You said firmly. “And if you tell anyone, I will consider it a personal betrayal.”

Obi-Wan held his hands up in surrender. “I wouldn’t. It’s not necessary, regardless. The sith are extinct. Even if this was an issue, meeting your soulmate shouldn’t change anything.”

You snorted, “If my soulmate was Sith- Maker, just saying that outloud is disgusting… I can’t imagine how easy that would make keeping my vows.”

Obi-Wan smiled at the joke, “What, bottomless rage doesn’t appeal to omegas?”

You actually laughed at that remark. “No, I can’t say it does. Neither does being chained up in a Sith’s basement.”

Obi-Wan laughed as well, but the reality of what Sith did to their omegas in legends hung over you both. Sometimes, their masters forced their apprentices to hunt down and kill their soulmates. Other times, the omegas were captured and used for breeding if they were force sensitive so the alpha could secure their sith lineage. There were very few stories of Sith alphas having any good relationship with their omegas. Or, at least, a relationship where it didn’t seem the omega was miserable. You supposed, it made sense, if Sith truly thrived off of anger and fear, to force the omega they were connected to by the will of the force to be a constant supply of such feelings.

You rolled back onto your shoulders, pushed off with your hands, and thrashed your legs upwards, flipping from your sitting position onto your feet. You looked down at your closest friend, “Alright, Obi. We meditated for three hours-”

“I meditated. You sat here and thought about dueling.”

“Now, can we please spar?” You stressed.

He rolled his eyes, standing slowly. “Fine.”

You threw your hands up, balled into fists, “Whoo!”

Obi couldn’t help but smile at the quiet, happy chirp that left you. Platonic affection between alphas and omegas was normal, even amongst the Jedi. Being a young alpha, Obi-Wan had always felt a bit more protective over you than the other Padawans his age. His Master assured him that was normal, and fine, as long as it stayed on the level of friendship.

\---------------------

“Why do you enjoy beating me like a rented Bantha?” Obi panted, keeping his lightsaber up in defense as you circled him, both of your twin lightsabers ignited. Their dark purple glow reflecting off your skin in the low light of the room.

“Because, you forced me to meditate for three hours.” You said bitterly. “How do you even manage that?”

Obi-Wan turned his lightsaber off, and you followed suit. “How do you manage to fight for such long periods of time?”

“Energy conservation.” You said simply. “You put too much strength into your movements. You gotta, kinda-”

You reignited your lightsabers, going through some basic movements you had learned long ago. “Flooooowwww. Imagine, at first, a very slow moving stream. Peaceful, very slow, and then-”

You leaped forward, crashing your sabers against one of the many training droids in the room. “Pick up the pace-” You twirled back and forth, focusing on your footwork as you spun and darted to and fro, even as the droids around you started to attack back. Your sabers clashed against their metal. Even with the intensity turned down for a combat situation, the damage the droids eventually took had them shutting down to simulate beating sliced in half. You had to admire their programming.

“Like a rushing river, then a raging ocean, maybe even a whirlpool.” You said, your voice getting quieter as you closed your eyes, letting the force guide your movement and telling you when to strike.

You stopped once all the droids were on the floor, opening your eyes to see Obi leaning against the wall, watching you with a passively interested expression. “Your style makes things seem… effortless.”

You grinned, feeling the burn in your calves. “Trust me, it’s not effortless. You just have to keep breathing, keep moving, and let things build up or wear down slowly. No sudden changes in the energy you put out.”

“And don’t engage directly.” Obi-Wan noted. “You don’t have to move as much if you force your opponent to do the majority of the striking.”

“Exhausting my opponent is how I win all my duels.” You admitted. “Get someone tired enough, they’ll slip up, and then I can strike.”

“Doesn’t work very well against droids.” Obi-Wan said, playfully messing up your hair.

You grunted, shoving his hand away and fixing your hair as best you could. “That’s what ‘whirl pool’ mode is for.”

Obi-Wan grimaced at the little name you had given your fastest version of your style. “You’ve got to find a better name. Besides, you can’t maintain that form for longer than a few seconds.”

You grinned up at him, “That’s all I need.”

Thoroughly distracted from your previous worries, you and Obi-Wan wander off to find dinner, leaving the droids to clean up the training room. He chats about a new kind of tea one of the Masters introduced him to, and you brace yourself for the umpteenth time to lose Obi-Wan to the hot leaf water club.

\------------------------

Months pass. The temple changes little by little, pressure from current politics affecting everyone. You bury yourself in combat training and (to Master Windu’s barely hidden glee) meditation. You grapple with your uncertainty about your upcoming trials, jealousy that Obi-Wan and Master Qui-Gon got to leave on a very exciting mission on Nabu (and then Tatooine, according to Master Windu) while you were stuck at the temple, and your increasingly dark visions.

Ah, yes, the whole reason you had begun slacking on meditation in the first place.

That room, that horrible, accursed room that you kept seeing in your meditations. It was so dark in that room you could barely see anything, but through the force, you could feel the presence of someone else in that room.

Young, always so young. Sometimes curled up in the corner, sniffling back tears. Sometimes in so much pain, you felt phantom waves of it through the force as the child tried to drag themself across the ground to the threadbare blanket they slept on. Always in such loneliness you couldn’t help but wake up shaking with sobs.

The worst one, by far, you had barely been able to make out the outline of a child, dipping their fingers into a wound on their arm, and using the blood to draw a landscape scene on the wall, like a window. You had woken up with such horrible sobs, you had to bury your face in your pillows, hoping against hope your crying would wake no one.

You thought you had imagined it, at first. The gentle, far too timid touch to your mind. Some nearly foreign (but not quite so) entity trying to comfort you in a very awkward, but seemingly well meaning way. A voice, dark and growling, but somehow not frightening. Not at the moment. It spoke slowly. “Do not fret, little one.”

You went from sobbing to purring, softly, barely, at the nickname. You hadn’t been called that since you were a youngling. The voice spoke again. “What’s done is done. Sleep, now.”

After that night, you had elected to sleep as little as possible. It wasn’t going very well, and the amount of caf you were ingesting was really messing up your stomach and mind. Master Windu had noticed, undoubtedly, but other than offering to meditate with you in the rare moments he was free from his responsibilities as a council member, he did nothing.

What else could he do? Teach you to not sleep?

All you could do was bear with the nightmares, meditate away all the emotions you could, and wait patiently for the only Master you trusted to return so you could speak with him.

Seeing you approach them in the hangar wasn’t a shock to either Obi-Wan or Master Qui-Gon. They had felt your approach likely since you had left your room. You hadn’t counted on the blonde youngling clinging to Master Qui-Gon’s robes. “Master Qui-Gon, you found a womp-rat?”

The child gave you a displeased look, even as Obi-Wan chuckled.

“My name is Anakin.” The youngling said firmly.

“Mine is Y/N.” You said, “Pleased to meet you.”

“Are you a Jedi too?” He asked curiously.

You nodded, and Obi-Wan gave you a look of warning. The boy walked forward, “How come you have two lightsabers?”

Ah, he was one of those younglings. The questions would never end, most likely.

“Observant little womp rat.” You teased. “I have two because I was taught a different form of combat, one that requires two lightsabers.”

“Can I learn that one too?” Anakin asked, excitedly.

You frowned, looking up at Master Qui-Gon with a very prominent question on your tongue.

“We have to speak to the council.” Master Qui-Gon said quickly. “Y/N, why don’t you accompany us?”

Confused, you followed Master Master Qui-Gon, falling into step alongside Obi-Wan. You leaned closer to Obi-Wan, speaking lowly so Anakin would not hear. “Answers?”

“Master Qui-Gon is intent on training him.” Obi-Wan said, clearly exhausted with whatever shenanigans he’s had to put up with from Qui-Gon.

“He’s so old?” You whispered back.

“I know.” That was that most tired voice you had ever heard from Obi. You let out a small purr, trying to offer comfort, and Obi chuckled. “Want to carry me back to my bed? Tuck me in, and give me some warm milk?”

“Keep talking like that, and I’ll have to give you a bath as well.” You teased.

\------------------------------

You almost felt bad for Anakin, standing before the council, listening to their endless questions and judgments as he passed their tests, showing his force sensitivity. But your thoughts couldn’t dwell on Anakin for long, not as you followed Obi-Wan and Master Qui-gon.

“The boy will not pass the council’s test, Master. He’s too old.”

“Anakin will become a Jedi, I promise you.” Qui-Gon said, waving off Obi’s concerns.

“Do not defy the council, Master, not again.” Obi pleaded.

“I shall do what I must, Obi-Wan.” Qui-Gon said coyly. You couldn’t help but smirk at that. Qui-Gon’s routine disregard for the council’s decisions was legendary.

“If you would just follow the code, you would be on the council.” Obi-Wan chided. “They will not go along with you, not this time.”

“Being on the council isn’t as glamorous as you might think.” You chimed in.

Master Qui-Gon quirked an eyebrow at you, then turned back to Obi-Wan. “You still have much to learn, my young apprentice.”

Master Qui-GOn turned back to you, “Now, Y/N, let’s see that mark.”

You frowned, glaring at Obi-Wan who quickly held up his hands in surrender. “I said nothing.”

“So, you knew.” Master Qui-Gon said, surprised.

“How did you know?” You questioned. “Not ever Master Windu has seen it.”

“If I asked Master Windu what color your hair was, he would have to get back to me with his answer.” Master Qui-Gon mocked. “Now, come, the mark.”

You slowly pulled up the sleeves of your robe, revealing your right forearm and the horrible language. “How did you know?” You asked again.

“We encountered someone on Tatooine.” Master Qui-Gon explained, tracing his fingers over the letters. “I believe they were a Sith Lord, and during our… confrontation, he might have mentioned it.”

You pulled your arm back, your sleeve covering the mark immediately. An idea swirled in your head, a horrible one that was becoming more and more likely every day. “That’s impossible. Even if… they have different marks. The marks aren’t the same-”

“How have you been sleeping?” Master Qui-Gon probed.

You were silent then. If the being you were having visions about was your soulmate, could he not also be having ones of you?

“It doesn’t matter.” You said firmly, refusing to let the childish, fearful chirp leave your throat. “Soulmates are forbidden, and any Sith I see is dead on sight.”

Master Qui-Gon regarded you for a moment, taking in the swirling emotions he no doubt sensed through your bond. “I’m not surprised at your intentions. I just wish that…”

You were both quiet then. You knew what he wished. You had felt it from him many times before. He wished you hadn’t become Master Windu’s Padawan. He wished he could have taken both you and Obi-Wan under his wing. He wished the council was different, wished the Jedi Order wasn’t so rigid in all it’s teachings, wished the dark side wasn’t as taboo as it was right now.

You shrugged, “I wish the cafeteria had cake more often. Anakin’s test should be over by now.”

\----------------------

The flight to Naboo was awkward. Anakin was in a state of fear, not knowing what was to become of him, Obi-Wan was caught up in the excitement of his trials being discussed, Master Qui-Gon was… being Master Qui-Gon, and you were hopelessly trying to meditate.

“Are you trying to block him?”

You looked up, seeing Master Qui-Gon sit down across from you. “Block him?”

Master Qui-Gon nodded, “You soulmate.”

“I don’t have a bond with him to block?” You questioned.

“If you are both having visions of each other, then a bond has been formed, somehow.” Master Qui-Gon explained.

“But- I’ve never even met him.” You protested.

“Calm yourself.” Master Qui-Gon instructed. “Fear, anger, these things will fuel him through your bond. You must learn to project calmness to him.”

“Shouldn’t I block him instead?” You asked.

Master Qui-Gon looked at you with regret filled eyes. “I fear you may be past the point of being able to block him. If you had reached out sooner…”

You lowered your head in shame. You had allowed your fear of being looked at as the soulmate of a Sith, of being ostracized, kicked out of the Jedi Order to fuel your silence. If you had simply reached out to your own master, perhaps you could have destroyed this horrible bond before it took root.

“I can feel him as well.” Qui-Gon admitted. “Through my bond with you, I can feel him somewhat. He… he has felt great pain.”

“I know.” You whispered. “Are they all like that? All the Sith?”

“No.” Master Qui-Gon said. “Some fall to the dark side by their own decisions. Some are pushed by the wicked will of others.”

There was the truth of it, you realized now. Your soulmate, all the visions of him you had seen had all been practically hand feeding you the truth. Your soulmate was not Sith due to his own ambitions and actions. Horrible atrocities had been enacted on him since early childhood, undoubtedly far out of his control. What child had any say in how they were treated?

“I can’t break the bond, can I?” You asked desperately.

“Not without risking your death.” Master Qui-Gon warned. “What might be best, is learning to project only what you wish over the bond, and preventing him from projecting anything back.”


	2. Altercation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, idk where all this came from, it was supposed to be a vaguely yandere abo soulmate au wrapped up in like, three chapters, but all this plot just appeared... so here ya go!

Getting off the ship once you were on Naboo, you found it a bit annoying that Anakin had been brought along. Sure, you couldn’t just leave him at the temple- actually, would anyone have cared if Qui-Gon just left him in his living quarters? The kid didn’t even have a blaster, much less a lightsaber.

What was more annoying was the pup himself. Glued to your side, to Master Qui-Gon and Obi’s amusement. Anakin sat next to you no matter where you sat, chatting to you about droids, pod racing, and the like. Having done your time assisting in creche, you weren’t completely out of your depth with the pup. You nodded along to his stories, paying enough attention so he wouldn’t feel brushed off, but not so much you completely lost your sanity waiting for the end of a pup’s rambling.

Eventually, Anakin went to the ‘fresher, and you nearly collapsed onto the table. Obi chuckled, “Long trip?”

“I’m going insane.” You complained. “There’s a reason I didn’t do anymore than my required volunteering in creche.”

“I thought it was because you tossed a toddler out a window.” Obi teased.

“Into a pool!” You defended. “He was a semi-aquatic species, the youngling was fine! He asked me to do it again. My punishment was unwarranted.”

“You made a class full of toddlers scream and cry because they thought their friend was dead.” Obi recalled. “The disturbance in the force jolted Master Yoda out of meditation.”

You sighed, “Subject change. Please.”

“It’s because his mother is an omega.” Obi-Wan said.

“Huh?” You asked, lost.

“Anakin’s mother is an omega slave, still on Tatooine.” Obi explained. “He’s still just a pup, and he’s clinging to you because of your scent.”

“Like how you used to cling to that one omega master in creche?” You asked. “What was her name… the pink twi'lek?”

“Master Nuna.” He said flatly. “You used to cling to Master Qui-Gon when you were little. Anytime he walked through class to observe, you’d practically sink your nails into his arm.”

“It was adorable.” Master Qui-Gon chimed in, returning from the cockpit to sit at the table with you and Obi. “I used to put you on my hip and walk you around the temple when you were just a tot.”

You smiled a bit, remembering clinging to Qui-Gon’s shoulder as he walked the corridors with his former padawan, cooing at different Jedi walking past, and yanking on Qui-Gon’s hair when you wanted attention. You only had very faint memories of that time, since you were so young. But you could remember bits and pieces of Xanatos. Master Qui-Gon never spoke of Xanatos, not anymore. You couldn’t blame him. You wanted to forget Xanatos too.

\-------------------

Landing on Naboo proved more difficult than you had thought, but the true challenge was taking back the hanger with the fighter starships. You kept Anakin behind you, using both your lightsabers to ward off blaster fire from the battle droids.

“Hey, pup, watch this.” You said, using your lightsaber to send one blaster bolt right back at the droid who fired it, sending it flying to the floor in multiple pieces.

“Whoa!” Anakin exclaimed.

“Anakin, get behind cover! Y/N, focus!”

“Focusing.” You assured Master Qui-Gon, moving forward at the same time Obi did, keeping the queen and her loyalists safe.

“Distract and dismantle?” Obi asked you, referring to the most common battle strategy the two of you used.

“Do it.” You agreed.

You walked forward, closer to the droids who continued to fire at you, both of your purple lightsabers twirling around you at near impossible speeds, deflecting all blaster fire that shot your way. Obi-Wan ducked behind a crate, then a ship, making his way to the side of the droids, intending to sweep in from their left and take them out while their fire was focused on you.

“Y/n, move!” Shouted Anakin.

On pure instinct, you lept to the side, falling and hitting your side hard as you rolled. You looked up to see Anakin piloting one of the fighter star ships, aiming its powerful blasts at the remaining droids and the Droideka. They all fell, and you couldn’t help but grin at Master Qui-Gon. “I’m beginning to understand what you see in him.”

Anakin popped his head out of the cockpit, a grin on his face that made you certain Qui-Gon was the perfect Master for him. “Master Qui-Gon! Did you see? I got all of them!”

Master Qui-Gon, despite himself, smiled. “Yes, now stay in the cockpit, and don’t run off. We’ll proceed ahead.”

“But I wanna help!” The pup protested.

“You already have.” You assured him, as a slightly dejected Obi-Wan walked out of his hiding spot. “You took out more droids than any of us. Do as Master Qui-Gon said, and I’ll treat you to some oonberry pie.”

Anakin seemed to accept that, settling down into the cockpit as the rest of you moved to proceed. As you moved towards the elevator, a slight ripple went through the faint bond Qui-Gon had revealed to be your soulmate’s. You found yourself stiffening as the doors slide open, revealing a figure in a black cloak. The group halted, staring transfixed as the figure lifted the hood of his cloak up to reveal a red face with intricate black tattoos. A crown of horns protruded from his head, adding to his demonic look. As the others shifted back, you stood still, your eyes locked onto him. Even before he met your gaze, you knew exactly who he was to you.

His eyes, yellow and terrifying, locked onto yours. He held you there with his gaze, a smirk creeping across his lips as he shed his cloak.

“We’ll handle this.” Master Qui-Gon said firmly.

That jolted you out of your trance, even as you felt the feather light bond between you and this monstrous looking being strengthen and expand. Previously, you had only felt his emotions during deep meditation, or dreams. Now, you could feel his emotions just as strongly as your own.

Your soulmate held up his lightsaber, that horrid red color coming from one end, and then the other. You couldn’t help but be surprised, not even bothering to hide your reaction over the bond. You know of that type of saber, sure, but you had never seen anyone use it. It was notoriously difficult, and most masters gently encouraged their padawan’s away from learning it.

At the feeling of your shock and admiration of his weapon, you could feel the zabrak across your bond, smugly satisfied with himself in that way only an alpha could be. It was somewhat amusing to feel a Sith lord inwardly gloating about impressing an omega the same way you had seen countless youngling alphas do, but you were mostly annoyed at yourself for letting him know you were impressed.

“Y/N, you can go wait with Anakin-” Qui-Gon started, as he and Obi-Wan shed their outer robes.

“No.” You said, shedding your robe as well, and taking out both of your lightsabers, igniting them along with your fellow Jedi. Your soulmate’s eyes flickered from you to your companions, taking the three of you in a lingering on you. Usually, before a fight, you release any anxiety or anger into the force, let it wash away everything and leave you with serenity and peace. This time, all you could feel was anger that was not your own.

“If you two leave, he won’t follow.” You said, knowing exactly what you were suggesting. A dark look came over the red zabrak’s face, and annoyance flashed through your bond. “You can complete the mission, and I can hold him up until you’re done.”

Obi-Wan’s head snapped to look at you, and you felt his concern through your bond. It was much harder to feel Obi-Wan now. You wondered if it was because of the close proximity of the zabrak, or if it would always be like this now. “Y/n- Master, we can’t!”

Another flash of anger rippled through your soulmate’s bond. He did not like another alpha being so openly concerned about you.

“We will not.” Master Qui-Gon said.

Obi-Wan lept first, managing to go clear over the zabrak and land behind him, though unable to strike him without the Sith blocking. Master Qui-Gon stayed in front of him, caging the Sith between the two of them. You rushed from the side, intending on at the very least, distracting him so Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon could deal a crippling blow. The Sith, in between his strikes with Obi and Master Qui-Gon, lifted a hand in your direction.

There was no warning before a wave of force energy threw you across the hangar. You didn’t even have time to be shocked at his skill with the force, as colliding into the side of the fighter spaceship you knew Anakin was still hiding in didn’t allow you much time for thought. You felt like you almost blacked out, but after taking in a shaky breath and glancing up, you saw that the three of them were still there, locked in their deadly dance.

“Y/N?”

You looked up, grunting in pain as you forced yourself to stand. Anakin’s head peaked out from the cockpit. “Are you okay?”

“Yea-yeah, just- ugh.” You took in another breath, wincing at the pain and you gasped at the feeling you felt through your force bond. It felt like a hand behind extended to you, an offer that made your inner omega, the one you spent years meditating to trap into only a small corner of your mind, want to purr. Submit. Submit, and I won’t hurt you again.

You shoved your inner omega back into her corner, despite her protests. Your soulmate was a violent murderer who was currently fighting the closest people you had to family, not some charming alpha to swoon over.

You glanced around the hangar as you ran forward, searching for the lightsabers you had dropped, and willing them to fly into your hands as you ran. Once both were back in your grip, you were able to follow Obi and Master Qui-Gon into the fight. As you did, you noticed the Sith created distance between himself and Obi with several backflips, then used the force to pick up a piece of debri, flinging it at the controls to make the doors open.

You scoffed as you managed to catch up with Obi-Wan, glancing at Master Qui-Gon, who was barely managing to pick himself up off the ground after a kick to the jaw from the Sith. You and Obi walked side by side, taking turns attempting to strike the Sith down, sometimes one of you would fake a lunge forward, letting the other take a shot at the Sith. The red faced man quickly realized your tricks, however. To your annoyance, he memorized you and Obi’s ticks, the little gives and warnings of certain strikes and foot work that you and Obi had yet to fully erase. Even as senior padawans, you both were a long way from being masters.

One solid kick to Obi-Wan’s stomach had him falling back, leaving you to surge forward, trying to occupy the zabrak’s time and energy so he wouldn’t have an opportunity to strike Obi while he was down.

Both of your lightsabers came up at once, as you attempted an admittedly stupid move of swinging your left handed saber to the right, and your right handed saber to the left, an attempt at literally slicing the Sith into three pieces. Of course, you didn’t account for his double sided weapon.

Each end of his saber blocked yours, and you caught a playful smirk on his face once more, right before he thrust the hilt of his lightsaber forward, smashing your nose with it and causing you to stumble back as blood burst from your no doubt broken nose.

There was the feeling again, through the bond. More forceful this time. Submit to me. Submit and this violence stops. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, little omega?

“Kriff you.” You sputtered, managing to stay on your feet and keep your sabers in your hands this time as Obi-Wan returned to your side, ready to aid you in your attacks. “I’m not your ‘little omega’ you red faced nerf herder!”

There was that rage again, red hot and burning beneath those yellow eyes.

“Y/n.” Obi warned.

Master Qui-Gon rushed into the room, and through your bond you could tell something was definitely wrong with him. You could sense a very prominent pain through your bond with him, even as he tried to ignore it himself.

The Sith, his back to a substantial drop and facing the business end of four lightsabers, flipped away, across the gap, and onto a long walkway, still overhanging a guaranteed fatal drop. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon wasted no time in force jumping onto the same walkway. You took the opportunity to sheath one lightsaber and reach up to your face, wincing as you felt the crack in your nose cartilage. You’d have to worry about it later.

Instead of force jumping, as you felt no where near centered enough to do that at the moment, you ran around the edge of the room, then sprinted down the walkway to try and catch up to the three men. Obi and Qui-Gon had managed to sandwich the zabrak between them, keeping him occupied with their attacks. At least, you thought so until you saw the zabrak kick Obi-Wan again, sending him over the ledge.

“OBI!” You screamed, watching helplessly as he fell. Glancing over, you saw he had managed to grab the ledge of a walkway below. Deciding to leave the Sith to Qui-Gon for now, seeing as he had a much better chance at beating him, you jumped down onto the same walkway Obi-Wan dangled off of, rushing to him and helping him up.

Once he was no longer in immediately danger of falling, he grabbed his lightsaber which had thankfully not fallen into the pit below. Then, his eyes shot to you, one hand coming up to touch your jaw as he looked at your nose. “Kriff, he broke your nose!”

“Thank you, Obi. I hadn’t noticed.” You quipped sarcastically, looking up to see Master Qui-Gon and the Sith and either jumped or fallen to a different walkway as well, one not quite as far as the one you stood on.

Taking a breath and centering yourself, you and Obi both force jumped onto the walkway above, then sprinted side by side to come to the aid of the man you both called Master, as his attacks beat the zabrak back further and further. Part of you was optimistic, thinking perhaps Master Qui-Gon had the Sith on the run, that he was besting him, and wearing him down. Perhaps, if you were lucky, he could be taken as prisoner, and interrogated. If this zabrak was a Sith lord, someone must have trained him, after all. The Order would need to cut off this corrupted growth at the root.

However, it wasn’t fear, or uncertainty you sensed from the Sith through your bond, but a surprising patience. You frowned, knowing something was wrong, but you couldn’t quite-

Confidence. The Sith was confident, even with every backwards step he took. He wasn’t on the run. He was leading you all somewhere.

“DON’T!” You tried to shout, summoning the force again to propel you forward, even faster, gaining on your master faster than Obi-Wan, shooting yourself across the floor like a shot from a blaster, right at the Sith. You swung both of your sabers at once, starting the strike from below, hoping he wouldn’t notice, so you could cut him off at the knees.

Through the bond you could feel the Sith, his surprise at your power, his grudging respect at your skill, and annoyance at your persistence to defy him.

Just when you thought you had him, that you would, at the least, relieve him of one of his legs, the Sith jumped into the air, and you shot right past him. You slid across the floor on your knees, wincing at the feeling of the floor scraping at your flesh, even through the cotton fabric of your pants. You turned at the end of your slide, still on your knees, and saw the red force fields begin to close off the walkway.

Thinking quickly, you again summoned the force, and flung your right handed saber through the air, right at the Sith. He barely managed to dodge it, the tip of the blade catching the edge of his tunic, before it hit the red force field behind him and clattered to the ground, the purple blade of light turning off.

You stood up, grimacing as you noticed the red force fields separated all four of you. None of you had a chance at the Sith for now. Obi-Wan was still at the edge of the walkway, about five force fields away from the Sith. Qui-Gon was separated by two force fields, and you, on the other side of the Sith, only had one between you two.

You could faintly feel Master Qui-Gon and Obi’s worry through the bond. They knew the Sith would have a shot at you first, once the force fields turned off. The Sith locked his eyes on yours, and being closer to him made you realize his eyes weren’t just yellow, they had a red ring around the outer edge. Just as red as the lightsaber he carried.

The Sith sheathed his lightsaber, hooking it onto his belt and crouched down to pick up yours. A note of curiosity was passed through your bond, and you nearly screamed when you felt your inner omega wonder if he approved of your work. The idea of getting praise from him was very appealing to her. Forcefully, you reminded yourself that a life with this Sith as your alpha would not hold praise and love, but abuse and constant fear. Everyone knew how Sith had treated their omega. All surviving records laid it out, plain as day.

The Sith stood, turning your lightsaber around in his hand, examining every facet of it, and then igniting it, seeming to admire the dark purple color.

“I’ve never met a human who was able to dual wield before.” He said. It was the first time you had heard his voice in person. It sounded much like it had in the vision you had shared together, not so long ago. The low, growlish voice somehow put you at ease. “I was under the impression they were too slow to master such a form.”

You scoffed, “Human men find it difficult to master a dual form. Speed is not the defining factor, multitasking is.”

He seemed to accept your explanation, looking at your other lightsaber, still firmly grasped in your hand, blade ignited. “Such an… interesting color. I haven’t seen much information on the colored kyber crystals the Jedi choose to use, but from what I do know, this color in particular, is frowned upon.”

You glared at him in warning. “You heard wrong. My master used the same color, and he sits on the Jedi Council.”

“Master Windu.” The Sith acknowledged. There was a curtness in his tone. Despite bringing up the topic of Jedi, he didn’t seem keen on lingering on it. “Tell me, little one-”

You flinched at the title, but he didn’t seem to care.

“How closely do you walk to the dark side?”

The shields dropped, and the Sith surged forward, surprising you and beating you back with your own lightsaber, even as you constantly blocked him with your other.

Holding it in both hands felt wrong, sloppy, and much too less to do. It felt stiff, both of your arms moving in the same direction at the same time. The Sith could sense your unease, your reluctance to fall back into a form you felt was so much less than what you were capable of. Your blades locked together, and he leaned forward over them, his eyes boring into yours as you felt his hot breath waft over your face.

“Is that pride I sense, little one?”

He had to spin away from you then, taking and igniting his own lightsaber as Master Qui-Gon reached him and attacked. The Sith’s hand raised and tossed your lightsaber to the side, right into the pit in the middle of the room.

Reacting on instinct, you reached out your hand, summoning the force to stop it from falling into oblivion, the lightsaber you had in your hand lowering. The Sith flipped behind you, yanking you into his grip with one hand around your waist, pinning your arm still holding your saber to your side, and his lightsaber at your neck.

Master Qui-Gon stopped, looking into the eyes of the Sith that held your life in his hands. Obi-Wan cried out from behind the last force field separating him from the battle. “Y/n!”

There was that anger again, recognized more accurately as jealousy now.

“You won’t kill her.” Master Qui-Gon said certainly. “You want her alive.”

“Yes.” The Sith admitted. “However, I have no qualms about disfigurement.”

His saber waved dangerously close to your face, the heat from the blade forcing you to lean your head back, trying to evade it. “I’m not enticed by delicate looks. Or perhaps, crippling?”

The other end of his saber waved pointedly at your leg. “She strikes me as the type to run, anyways. It would be a logical precaution.”

A horrid image of yourself, chained up in this Sith’s basement, legless with a horribly painful looking scar across your face washes over your mind, and you feel yourself nearly gag at the thought.

Master Qui-Gon straightened, a look coming over his face that shocked you. Anger was never an emotion Jedi were supposed to show, and it came off of Master Qui-Gon in waves. Rage that surpassed even that of the Sith holding you. “I want your Master, not you.”

“Oh?” The Sith asked, curious at this development.

“You have to kill him as part of your training. You seem skilled enough.” Master Qui-Gon bargained. “Help me to kill your master, and you may claim my padawan.”

You stared in horror at the man who was your master in all but name, “Master?!”

“Why would I want your permission?” The Sith growled. “I can take what I want, as is my right as a Sith Lord.”

“Because,” Master Qui-Gon said, a cold ripple going through the bond you shared with him. You could see Obi-Wan felt it too, the poor man nearly collapsing as his bond with Master Qui-Gon was much stronger. “She is already the property of another Sith Lord.”

You chirped in despair as you saw Master Qui-Gon’s eyes, a bright yellow to match your soulmate’s.


	3. Adrift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wake up on a strange ship, in a strange bed, with a strange man. Enjoy yourself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeeeaaaaaahhhh I like glossing over silly things like major character death and such, and just getting into the characters relationships and such.

Laziness wasn’t a common vice for you. Once you were awake, you tended to be up and out of bed, regardless of the hour. Sleep wasn’t something you saw as necessary, especially as of late. But there was something so warm and cozy about your bed right now, you couldn’t even consider opening your eyes. With all the nightmares you have been having recently, you sleepily reasoned that staying in your bed (when did it get this comfortable?) was reasonable.

Besides, what did you even have to do today? There was that Naboo mission with Obi, but- No. No that wasn’t today, that had already-

Your eyes sprung open, taking in your surroundings and forcing the fog of sleep away from your mind. The hum of machinery you could hear, but nothing else, told you that you were definitely on a ship, and most likely already in space. The room you were in had a low ceiling, one small window right next to the bed peering out into the vast star filled vacuum of space, and the bed you were on had so many blankets you weren’t actually sure if it was a bed or just a pile of covers. They were so soft, most of them black or bright red, and… scented?

You grabbed the blanket that you had unconsciously been rubbing your face into, bringing it up to your nose and sniffing. It was an odd one, metallic and spicy, and undeniably alpha. But there was a familiar one beneath it, one you had grown up smelling, one of comfort and home. Master Qui-Gon.

You managed to wiggle out of the layers of blankets you had been tucked into, finally seeing that yes, it was a bed, not a pallet of blankets, and walked to the door. When you turned your head to look for a panel or switch to open it, a shooting pain came from your neck. You reached up to the right side of your neck, wincing as your fingers brushed along the wound. Feeling the deep, jagged wound, sweeping your fingertips over it to follow the curving line-

“No.” You whispered, just as you felt a throb through your force bond. He was here. He knew you were awake, and it had been his strange scent in the bed. You hurriedly swiped your hands over the wall, trying to find the panel, and finally did. You waved your hand over it, but it beeped in error. Kriff. Of course your biometrics weren’t saved in his ship’s security.

A polite knock on the door stopped your train of thought. Why- why would he knock? The door slid open then, revealing the zabrak, and Master Qui-Gon. You looked to your mentor, confused as to why he would be here, and saw his eyes. Bright, burning yellow. Like that, everything came back to you.

“Why would I want your permission?” The Sith growled. “I can take what I want, as is my right as a Sith Lord.”

“Because,” Master Qui-Gon said, a cold ripple going through the bond you shared with him. You could see Obi-Wan felt it too, the poor man nearly collapsing as his bond with Master Qui-Gon was much stronger. “She is already the property of another Sith Lord.”

You chirped in despair as you saw Master Qui-Gon’s eyes, a bright yellow to match your soulmate’s.

The zabrak froze, and through your bond you could feel his confusion, annoyance, and ever present anger. He was waying his options, cursing some unforeseen obstacle. Of course, he had thought he could simply take you, but what Master Qui-Gon had just revealed had halted his plans.

“Deal.” He hissed out, before sheathing his lightsaber, his hand going to your head, tangling in your hair and yanking your head to the side, exposing the right side of your neck to him.

You let out another chirp, drowned out by Qui-Gon’s bellow of, “NO!”

The Zabrak’s sharp teeth ripped into the flesh of your neck, tearing through your scent glands. It was a white hot pain, the likes of which you had never felt before. You had struggled, trying to reach out to the force, trying to push the pain away, but it was far too much, and you had slipped into unconsciousness.

Master Qui-Gon gave you a small smile, “Y/n, did you sleep well?”

“You kriffing traitor.” You meant it as a scream, a bloody scream of betrayal to echo the heartache you felt, but it was barely even a whisper.

The Zabrak grunted, “You let her speak to you like this?”

You narrowed your gaze at him, an involuntary hiss slipping from between your teeth. He bristled, rage pumping through your bond as he stood straighter, his eyes darkening and scent changing. Your inner omega warned you to avert your gaze, to whimper, and to submit. This was your alpha now, and you hissed at him, challenging him, and in front of another alpha at that.

“Lord Maul.” Master Qui-Gon said curtly. “Remember what we discussed.”

The Sith, Maul, you supposed, growled, before relaxing his posture. “Very well.”

Your eyes flicked back to Master Qui-Gon, who stepped to the side, gesturing for you to step out into the hallway, “We have some things to discuss.”

“Your transport back to Coruscant to face trial?” You asked sarcastically.

“Says the Sith Lord’s omega.” Qui-Gon countered.

It was a low blow, but it was true. There would be no turning back to the Jedi Order now. A Sith as your soulmate was one thing, but a Sith as your bonded alpha was quite another. At the least, you would be formally expelled from the order. At the worst, they might find you at fault, maybe accuse you of being a sith yourself.

You followed Qui-Gon down the hall, keeping him between yourself and Maul. His annoyance increased through your bond. He didn’t like being denied anything, even something as petty as walking next to you. You shoved a very large wave of annoyance at his entitlement right back at him through your bond, and smirked at his growl.

The three of you entered what seemed to be the main living space on the ship. A couch, two chairs, and a small table occupied by two datacrons, a data pad, and to your shock, what seemed to be an actual paper book. How old was it? How did Maul get his hands on such an antique?

In one of the chairs, looking much worse for wear, was Obi-Wan. He had dark circles under his eyes, his shoulders hunched forward with the weight of his emotional turmoil you could sense through your bond. Just like your bond with Qui-Gon, it was muddied, unclear. You were so used to being able to feel Obi and Qui-Gon clearly and with no hesitation through your bonds, but now it was cloudy and muted, like looking through frosted transparisteel. The only bond clear and unmuted was the one you shared with Maul.

Obi-Wan looked up at you, a look of relief coming over his face. “Y/n. Glad to see you well- or, at least, glad to see you.”

“Likewise.” You said quietly, sitting in the chair next to him as Master Qui-Gon sat on the couch, Maul standing by the entryway you had come out of, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

“You’re both owed an explanation.” Master Qui-Gon began.

“How long?” Obi asked.

There was no need to clarify. You both only had one thing on your mind. Master Qui-Gon didn’t falter at both of your gazes. “Since I was a Padawan.”

“How did you manage to be in the Order? Pass your trials? Have three kriffing padawans, and be named a master, all while being a Sith?” You asked, flustered at the very idea someone could hide for so long.

“The Sith are not nearly as different from the Jedi as the Council would have the whole Order think.” Master Qui-Gon explained. “As a Padawan, my Master was a Sith. Or, I suppose, a Dark Jedi. He exposed me to the dark side, in small amounts. Old, forbidden Sith teachings, holocrons, that sort of thing.”

“I’ve never…” Obi-Wan began. “You disagree with with Council regularly, but- none of your decisions- no one thought you were-”

“No one thought I was a Sith because they think all Sith are baby eating mass murderers with no restraint.” Master Qui-Gon dismissed. “It’s a separate ideology, that is all. You can walk the path of the dark side without being corrupted by it. You can harness both sides of the force without allowing either to control you.”

You and Obi-Wan were quiet, both turning to look at the other, pushing through the fog that now clouded your bond to communicate wordlessly. Master Qui-Gon took being locked out of the conversation with grace, sitting quietly and waiting for both of his students to reach a conclusion.

'What do we do?' Obi-Wan asked. 'We’re duty bound to take him to face trial, or to kill him but-'

'But he’s still Master Qui-Gon.' You finished. 'He’s the same as he’s always been, he’s just… not hiding it anymore.'

'Still, how much of a Sith is he?' Obi wondered.

'Not a baby eater, apparently.' You joked morbidly. 'I can’t go back to the Jedi Order, nothing good will come of that for me. If you go back… well, you’ll probably be fine, but I’d prefer if you left Qui-GOn with us. I’m not keen to be alone with… Maul.'

'Right, because the Order would welcome back the Padawan of a Sith Lord and best friend of a Sith’s omega.' Obi thought glumly.

'So, for now, it’s in both of our interest to stick with Master Qui-Gon… I just want to make sure he’s not… well, that he’s not going to have us kill children, or-'

'Or that he doesn’t support the rule of two?' Obi-Wan asked sarcastically.

'I promise I won’t kill you.' You said smugly.

'Promise I won’t kill you either.' Obi-Wan agreed with a playful smile.

A long bang severed the conversation between you. Your head jerked to the side, seeing Maul, his fist still against the metal wall he had slammed it into. His eyes blazed yellow and red fire, glaring right at Obi-Wan.

You sighed, “Sorry, did you want me to hold your hand while I have a conversation with another person?”

Maul’s gaze flickered to you, an unwavering anger now directed to you. “Perhaps, I just don’t want another alpha opening fawning over you, and watching you let him.”

“He’s not fawning!” You protested.

“I smiled?” Obi-Wan questioned.

Maul stood there, stiff in the uncomfortable silence, before turning and storming off. You turned to Master Qui-Gon, “You gave me to him!? Like a kriffing bargaining chip!”

“He already had you in his grasp, literally.” Master Qui-Gon dismissed. “Would you prefer to be here alone, possibly down a leg? Or maybe your face hacked up?”

You were silent then, accepting that guilting Qui-Gon over the bond wouldn’t work.

“In all honesty, I hadn’t expected him to bond you right there and then.” Qui-Gon continued. “I thought he would wait until after we killed his master.”

“Where is his master?” You asked.

“Darth Sidious, or better known to you and the public as Palpatine, should have been discovered dead in his office with enough incriminating evidence leaked to the Council to mark him as a Sith Lord. I would have attempted to kill his master as well, but he saved me the trouble.” Qui-Gon told you. “That spawn was everything wrong with the Sith, much like the Council is everything wrong with the Jedi.”

“And the Sith themselves are not everything wrong with the Sith?” Obi-Wan ventured boldly.

Qui-Gon shook his head, “Attachments, emotions, those are not paths to the dark side. The dark side itself is not a path of total corruption. One can be a Sith and not live in excess, craving nothing but power, and falling into corruption. Sidious was the worst type of person to become a Sith, a spoiled brat, pampered since birth by rich parents, never being given consequences for his actions, one who craved power for no other reason than being able to do what he wished with no consequence.”

“And Maul?” You asked, curious still about the alpha you were bound to.

Qui-Gon seemed uncomfortable, “He is one sent on the path of a Sith by Sidious, not of his own choice. Forcing one to take the path of a Sith is a long, torturous process. Maul was taken at a very young age, and you already have some idea of what he endured.”

You swallowed the lump slowly forming in your throat, “How… how young?”

“From what I can tell by the memories I absorbed from Sidious, about four.” Qui-Gon explained. “I saw… some of what he did to Maul. I will speak no further on it.”

Neither you or Obi-Wan objected, understanding the social immorality of not exposing someone’s past childhood trauma.

“Y/n?” You looked up, seeing Anakin standing in the entryway Maul had disappeared into. He was barefoot, wearing a big shirt you recognized as one of Master Qui-Gon’s. He rushed forward, arms outstretched. You stood up off your chair, instinctively lifting him into your arms as he ran into you.

“Anakin?” You questioned.

He buried his face into your neck, thankfully the side that wasn’t marked. “Master Qui-Gon said you were having omega troubles. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” You assured the boy, shifting his weight to your hip and patting his back with one hand. “I was only out for a few hours.”

“You were asleep for two days!” Anakin protested.

“Kriff.” You mumbled. No wonder you were so light headed and sore.

“Omega.”

You looked back up to the entryway, seeing Maul stand there again, holding your lightsabers in his hands. You set Anakin down, approaching Maul begrudgingly, and taking your sabers from his hands. As you did, your hands brushed over his. They were warmer than you thought they’d be.

“My name is Y/n.” You said softly.

“I’m aware, little one.” Maul said cooly.

You bit your tongue as you felt a little flutter in your stomach. When was the last time anyone had called you, ‘little one’? Probably when you were still a toddler.

You turned around, looking at Master Qui-Gon. Maul was much calmer now, through your bond. You weren’t aware Sith’s were capable of calming themselves down. Was Maul truly different from the monsters you had been told tales of as a youngling? Or was he playing nice around Master Qui-Gon?

“What are we going to do?” You asked.

Master Qui-Gon seemed to gather himself, gesturing for Anakin to sit next to him on the couch. “Firstly, we return to Tatooine, and retrieve Anakin’s mother. Then, we’re going somewhere safe. Somewhere the Republic and the Order won’t find us. There, we will train.”

You and Obi-Wan shared a look as Anakin beamed, bombarding Master Qui-Gon with questions about getting his mother back. Neither of you were looking forward to whatever training Qui-Gon had in mind.

\--------------------

The ship you were on, you discovered, was called the Scimitar. You thought it was an odd name, but didn’t comment. Maul had likely named it himself, and you didn’t want to antagonize him further. The wall was dented from where he had struck it, and although someone had reset your broken nose while you were unconscious, it still hurt. You weren’t keen on getting hit again.

That was your fault. Your inner omega protested. He told you to submit. If you had listened, he wouldn’t have hurt you! He made you such a nice nest, and he even gave you back your lightsabers! He’s a good alpha, go apologize, and submit.

You kept staring out the window in the room you and your fellow Jedi, well, former Jedi you supposed, had been discussing Qui-Gon’s deception in. Obi-Wan was there as well, flipping through a datapad and watching the news. As Master Qui-Gon had planned, Palpatine’s body had been found, along with his lightsaber, hidden in a statue in his office, and a detailed letter of resignation from the Jedi Order, written by Qui-Gon, explaining Palpatine’s hidden identity as Darth Sidious, and his master’s as Darth Plagueis.

Queen Padme stood addressing her people, reaffirming her allegiance to the Republic, and claiming to launch a full investigation into the past of both dead Sith. “To the former Jedi known as Qui-Gon Jinn, thank you for exposing the corruption of these Sith. Now, please, come forward, turn yourself in, and surrender your Padawans as well.”

“Turn it off.” You said.

Obi-Wan complied, turning the datapad off and setting it down. Anakin scampered back into the room, holding a box that rattled as he ran. He grinned, coming right up to you and showing you the contents of the box. “Y/n, look what I found!”

The box was full of what looked like spare droid parts. “Anakin, where did you find that?”

“I was bored, so I went into the maintenance crawlspace to check out the ships mechanics, and then I went into the cargo hold to see if there was anything to do, and I found all this. I bet I could make-”

“What a little thief.” You all looked up to see Maul again, a slightly annoyed look on his face. “Didn’t that mother of yours teach you not to take what doesn’t belong to you?”

“They’re all dusty.” Anakin protested. “You weren’t using them. Besides, you left a perfectly good memory bank in here!”

“It’s not ‘perfectly good’.” Maul argued. “It’s damaged.”

“All I’d have to do is cut out the shot part, and weld on a new bit, right here.” Anakin protested, pointing at the holes that the memory bank had. “It might as well be perfectly new!”

Maul, to your surprise, chuckled to Anakin. “Are you very interested in droids?”

Anakin’s eyes practically sparkled. “Yes! I built a protocol droid already. Well, it’s mostly finished, anyways. He can talk and everything, he just can’t move very well.”

Maul nodded, taking in the information. “I have a crate with some scrap metal. If you’re keen on welding, you could make use of it for your droid.”

“I can have C-3P0 too!?” Anakin asked.

“It’s my ship.” Maul said firmly. “You can bring whomever I say.”

“You’ll like C-3P0!” Anakin said excitedly, following Maul into the cargo hold. Curious, you rose a followed the two. “I programmed him to be really polite, and he knows a lot of languages.”

“Very useful.” Maul noted, opening the crate to show Anakin the scrap metal. “Once your droid is here, we’ll fit him with a proper body.”

Anakin prattled on about C-3PO, speeders, and pod racing. Maul, to his credit, actually seemed interested in what Anakin had to say. They even had one or two spirited debates about droid parts that you didn’t really understand.

What you did understand, however, was why one of your soulmarks was a bunch of bolts and gears strung together. Anakin was checking out Maul’s welding bench, and Maul finally looked to you. “Surprised I’m not killing him?”

“More surprised you’re listening to him.” You admitted. “Even I can only pay attention for so long.”

You reached a hand up to the right side of your neck, tracing the soulmark there fondly. “I always knew you would be a droid nerd.”

Maul scoffed. “Having a hobby doesn’t make me anything other than educated, and skilled.”

“Says the droid nerd.” You said. Not your best banter, you’d admit.

Maul glanced over his shoulder, seeing Anakin was leaving the cargo hold, likely going to bother Qui-Gon about when you would be arriving at Tatooine. Realizing you were alone with your soulmate for the first time, you considered sprinting for the door.

Maul growled. You really needed to learn to block your bond with him.

“Am I so repulsive that you can’t stand speaking to me for more than a few moments?!” Maul snarled.

You, for once, listened to your inner omega. You stepped forward, looking up at Maul through your lashes, and let out a small chirp. Maul softened, only slightly, the area where an eyebrow would be raising. “I don’t find you repulsive.”

Maul’s shoulders seemed to relax, and he stepped closer to you, a hand going out to grip your chin and tilt your head to let you stare directly at him.

“Oh!” You said suddenly. “You have an earring?”

Maul frowned, “Yes?”

“I didn’t notice it before.” You admitted. “It’s so dark, it’s hard to see against your tattoos.”

Maul grimaced. “It’s not meant to catch attention.”

“What’s it meant for?” You asked quietly, not sure you wanted to know.

“To remind me of what used to be there.” Maul said, just as quietly, his gaze leaving you to stare at the wall. Your inner omega whimpered, begging you to reach out and comfort your alpha. There was clearly some painful reasoning or memory connected to that ear ring.

You reached your hand up to touch it, but stopped yourself before your hand passed his shoulder, “May I?”

Maul met your gaze again, “Of course, little one.”

There was that flutter again. That lovely feeling of being referred to by such a loving title by your alpha. You reached up, touching his ear ring. “Can you tell me?”

Maul took in a deep breath, as if preparing himself from some kind of reaction. From you or form himself, you didn’t know. “I used to have a soulmark there, before my late master covered it with the black ink.”

Your eyes widened, absorbing the horror of such disgusting body mutilation. Even the Jedi, those who forbid any attachments to their soulmates, did not cover their soulmarks with tattoos. They did not cut the soulmarks away.

Maul continued. “Once I came of age, and my marks appeared, my master held them over me as a threat. Anytime he gave me a task, a mission, a chore, he said if I failed he would cover one of my soulmarks.”

Maul’s hand came up to hold yours, his eyes locking onto yours and holding you in place with an authority only and alpha could have. He brought your hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it softly.

“I only failed once. Once was enough to strip me of one of my soulmarks.”

“You… do you have others?” You asked.

“Would you like to see?” He asked.

You chuckled, “You show me yours, I’ll show you mine?”

Maul perked up, “You have more than two?”

“Four.” You admitted.

An emotion you weren’t completely unfamiliar with flooded your bond. Lust.

“If you wish to see all of my soulmarks, I suggest we go to the privacy of our room.” Maul’s hands found your hips, pulling you closer and leaning down to whisper into your ear. “A few are in quite… intimate areas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooked ya with the plot, ended it with some flirtation. Maybe more soon?


	4. Alluring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NUDITY! THERE IS NUDITY IN THIS CHAPTER!!! No sex tho... Doesn't feel like the right time yet...

The Scimitar was the kind of ship any omega would fall in love with. Other than the cockpit, ready room, and cargo hold, all the rooms were small and cozy. Even Maul’s bedroom was the same size as the one you had woken up in, complete with the low ceiling and singular window.

“How many bedrooms are there?” You asked.

“Two.” Maul said, turning his lights up a notch so you could see clearly. He had a king size bed, right beneath the small window, and a good sized dresser. It was fairly bare. “Mine, and the one you were placed in. I’ve never actually used it as a… guest room. Only a holding cell.”

“Morbid.” You said dryly. “If there’s only two beds, where have the others been sleeping?”

“I have four storage bays, roughly the same size as my room.” Maul explained, sitting on the end of his bed and beginning to remove his boots. You hopped on top of his dresser, crossing your legs and watching coyly. “We had an hour or so to spare after killing Sidious, and your master had Kenobi load a few beds on board.”

You cocked your head to the side, “He bought beds? Where did he even get the money?”

Maul looked up at you, a coy smirk on his face. “I transferred all my masters assets into my own credit accounts. I assumed you would want me to provide for your little… pack, as well as you.”

You perked up at him calling Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan your pack. You supposed he wasn’t wrong. With returning to the Order no longer an option, you supposed they were all you had now. Them, and Maul. You couldn’t stop the happy little chirp you let out at the realization that, yes, Qui-Gon, Obi, and even Anakin were now your pack. And Maul, your mate, was providing for them. Providing a home in his ship, and credits as well.

“Thank you, Alpha.”

Maul’s eyes widened at the praise, and a strange feeling passed through your bond. Maul was glad to be getting praised but also felt strange at receiving it. He automatically craved more praise from you, the desire alarmingly desperate. You could feel him, trying to tame the feeling down, trying to not project it through your bond, but you held up a hand, stopping him.

“Please, don’t hide these things from me. If we’re going to… to be mates… let’s not hide things from each other.”

Maul wouldn’t meet your gaze, crossing his arms and glaring at the far wall stubbornly. He looked a bit like a pouting pup. “I will not be weak. Not in front of you. Not now, not ever.”

You gracefully hopped down from your perch on his dresser, slowly stepping towards him. Once you were within arms reach, you raised your hands, resting one on his chest and the other on his jaw, gently pulling his face to make him look at you.

“Wanting something from me is not weakness.” You stressed. “You’re not what I expected my soulmate to be, and I’m not saying I’m ready to… to truly become mates. Everything I thought I could rely on is now gone, and the man I thought I could trust above all others is a stranger to me right now.”

His hand came up to rest over the one on his face, and you were again surprised by the amount of body heat he generated.

“But I am willing to… go slowly.” You whispered.

“Slowly.” Maul agreed.

You both stood like that for a moment, then you stepped even closer to him, laying your head on his chest, and wrapping your arms around his middle. “Thank you, alpha.”

Something happened in his chest, some ripple of sound that almost sounded like a purr, but it was over too quickly to identify. Maul’s arms wrapped around your shoulders, and he nuzzled his face into your neck, lapping at the bondmark he had left there with his tongue.

The level at which he felt happiness at the simplest praises disturbed you. When was the last time this man had been shown affection? Your Master’s information about Maul being four years old when he was taken by Sidious sprung to your mind, and you briefly considered taking this alpha into your arms and carrying him back into the bedroom he had let you use, putting him into your nest, and cuddling him until he fell asleep. Actually…

You gently pulled away from Maul, patting his bicep. “Wait here- oh, wow, you’re strong, um… wait here, I’ll be right back.”

You could feel his amusement and pride through your bond as you left the room. You found your way back to your room, passing by the open door of the room Obi-Wan was using. Obi was reclined in bed, reading aloud from a datapad to Anakin. You only caught a few words, but you knew it was a children’s story about a lazy bantha herder. You had heard the story many times as a youngling.

You went into your room, gathered up every blanket Maul had placed on the bed into your arms. It was quite the feat, as Maul seemed to have a real hoarding problem with blankets. Even you hadn’t owned this many blankets back at the Jedi Temple. At the most, you had owned five. There were more than ten in your arms and you strained under the awkward weight as you stumbled back to Maul’s room.

You hadn’t taken more than two steps in when you felt Maul’s arms lift the big bundle of blankets out of your grip, and set them down on top of the dresser. “Omega?”

“Have you ever been with an omega before?” You asked.

“No.” Maul said. “I’ve had betas.”

“Same.” You said.

“I thought Jedi were forbidden from-”

“From having attachments.” You quickly dismissed his thought. “Not from having sex. I’ve slept with other padawans who were betas, no alphas, I didn’t want to get pregnant.”

Maul didn’t seem to like finding out you weren’t a virgin, and you stubbornly crossed your arms. “Neither are you.”

Maul grunted, and turned to the blankets, “So, why bring these?”

You smiled softly. “I’m gonna make a nest. You actually made a pretty good one, I won’t lie.”

You felt that happiness through the bond again, that desire to be praised more, to do things you liked to win every drop of praise he could wring from your tongue. “And I should say, I really appreciate you letting me sleep alone.”

Maul hesitated, “I… Your Master demanded it. I wanted you to spend your rest in my bed, surrounded by my scent. I wanted you to wake up in my arms, to know you were safe…”

“Your scent was there.” You said softly. “And my Master’s. Thank you for listening to him.”

Maul nodded, “There are certain things Sidious taught me to do, once I obtained an omega. Other than bond marking you, I haven’t done any of them. Your Master assured me following Sidious’ guidelines would only make you want to leave me.”

“I don’t doubt that.” You whispered. “Now… would you like to watch?”

Maul nodded furiously, leaning back against the dresser and watching as you sorted through the blankets, bit by bit finding the types you wanted beneath you, beside you, and the ones you wanted to be able to lay beneath. Then, one by one, you added them to Maul’s bed, maneuvering them just right until you had your finished nest. You chuckled at how ridiculously big it looked.

“How’d you come to have so many blankets?” You asked. “I’ve only used five before.”

Maul’s eyes widened in surprise. “You have- that is, I’ve been preparing to find you. I made sure I would be well supplied to care for your needs. Blankets, clothing, food, things to occupy your time.”

You nearly gasped, “You mean, you actually bought all of these for me?”

Maul nodded, wrapping his arms around your middle and lapping at his bondmark again, before nipping the shell of your ear and whispering, “All for you, little one. My omega deserves the best, and by my will, you will have it.”

You turned your head to the side, leaving a chaste kiss on his cheek before pulling out of his grip, taking one of his hands in both of yours. “I love the blankets you’ve given me, alpha. Thank you so much. Now-”

You climbed into your nest, gently tugging Maul’s hand to guide him in with you. “Let me help you relax, alpha.”

Maul let you guide his movements, let you push him down onto his side so you could lay behind him. You could almost feel the tension in his body start to evaporate as you rubbed little circles into his back and shoulders. “Are your horns sensitive?”

“Not the horns themselves, but the skin around the base of the horns is.” Maul explained.

“Does it hurt to be touched there?” You asked.

“If you touch it gently, it doesn’t. It’s kind of like hair. If I were to yank your hair, it would hurt. But if I ran my fingers through it-” He cut himself off with a purr as your fingers gently stroked through his horns, over his scalp, tracing the lines of his tattoos and the raised skin around the bases of his horns. You smiled to yourself as you continued, drinking in the sound of his purrs as you continued your ministrations. He nearly turned to liquid in your hands, all tension and stiffness leaving his body.

“Show me them.” You whispered, withdrawing your hands once you were certain Maul getting more relaxed wasn’t possible.

He sat up in the nest, slowly removing his tunic, then his undershirt. He turned, showing you his left bicep, where the bright blue and purple fruit made you burst into giggles.

“I-I am so sorry!” You managed. “I’m so sorry you have to walk around as a Sith Lord with oonberries on your arm!”

Maul chuckled, “I can’t even eat them. Zabrak’s are carnivorous.”

That just made you laugh more.

The next one he showed you was on his chest, his right pectoral. Between two of his black tattoos was the silhouette of a tooka cat.

“Oh!” You said excitedly. “I love these so much. Me and my age mates got to raise a litter of them. Master Kesi takes in strays, and he took in a tooka that was pregnant. The parent died, but the litter made it, and we all took turns bottle feeding the kittens. I wanted to keep one so bad, but we aren’t allowed to keep pets. Even the ones Master Kesi takes in are nursed to health and then given to zoos or adopted by those outside the order.”

“You like them so much I have one on my body forever,” Maul said crossly, “And you weren’t even allowed to have one?”

“None of us were.” You said softly. “Besides, I wouldn’t have had time for a pet. Master Windu kept me fairly busy.”

Maul sighed, showing you his last tattoo, a large one, taking up almost all of his inner thigh. He had to remove his pants to show you, and you couldn’t fight off the blush rising to your cheeks at his mostly naked body. His was all hard muscle, everything about his body radiating power and control. Sitting next to him, you felt so much smaller than you ever had.

His soul mark on his thigh was a poem written in Mando’a that you had memorized as a teenager. It was almost embarrassing how much you loved that poem as a teenager, and even now as an adult.

“I honestly thought you were Mandalorian.” Maul said.

You groaned, covering your face with your hands. “No, I was just a lonely teenager, and this poem… the way it talks about family… I couldn’t stop reading it. Over and over again.”

Maul’s hands wrapped around your wrists, pulling your hands away from your face and taking your face into his hands. “Do you want a family?”

You were sure your face was the same shade of red as he was now. “I… I don’t know. It’s been a very hard and scary week-”

Maul’s finger slipped over your lips, silencing you. “We will speak of it no more. When you know, tell me.”

You nodded. He removed his hands from your face, and looked at you expectantly. You shrugged off your tunic and undershirt, leaving you only in your bra from the waist up. You let him get a good look at the bolts and gears that dotted your neck and went down to your collar.

He traced the various bits of that mark with his fingers, humming approvingly.

You then turned your left arm over, showing him the silhouette of the bane back spider on your wrist. Maul grinned, “I had one of these as a pet when I was- when I was very young.”

Before Sidious took him.

You lifted your right arm next, showing him the dark language etched into your forearm. Maul chuckled, “And you pity me for having berries on my arm… I cannot imagine what it was like to be a Jedi and have this on your body.”

“I kept it hidden.” You assured him. “Only Obi-Wan and Master Qui-Gon knew… and Qui-Gon only knew because you told him.”

Maul met your gaze, unapologetic. “I recognized him from the visions I had about your childhood. You were always either training, or with him.”

You shrugged sheepishly. “I was a fussy youngling. Not too many people could calm me down, and Master Qui-Gon always humored me.”

Maul nodded slowly. “I suppose, because he wasn’t afraid of forming an attachment with you?”

“I guess not.” You agreed in a whisper. Leaning to the side, you undid the tie keeping your pants up, rolling down the left side of your pants and underwear just enough to show him the bright red fish with yellow eyes. “This is my last one.”

Maul’s hand ghosted over the fish, a sad look behind his eyes. “I see.”

“Why a fish?” You asked.

“It was a… pet of sorts.” Maul admitted. “I was not allowed to have pets, or friends. So when my master discovered that I was so fond of the animal, he starved me, and then forced me to eat it.”

If your heart wasn’t broken over his childhood before, it was now. “Maul…”

“I do not want pity.” Maul said firmly. “Everything that happened in my life has made me strong. Strong enough to claim you. Strong enough to kill my master so I could succeed him, so you could be safe.”

Maul took your face in his hands again, his thumbs gently brushing over the apples of your cheeks. “You will never want for anything, little one.”

Somehow, under the intensity of those beautifully frightening eyes, you managed to protest. “I don’t want to be an omega you keep locked up in your bedroom. I refuse to submit to that.”

“I saw how you move when you fight.” Maul said, his voice suddenly becoming husky and low. “How smoothly and confidently you flow across the ground. How fiercely you strike out at your enemy. I felt how angry you were… so unlike a Jedi. I would never dream of keeping one like you locked away anywhere.”

Maul shifted then, pushing you down onto the bed and crouching over you, his hands pinning your arms above your head and his eyes roaming over your body. “Although… you do look quite alluring in my bed.”

You wished you could have captured the look on Maul’s face when he heard you start to purr. The emotions he sent crashing through your bond overwhelmed you, letting you know how happy and proud Maul was in this moment. He had made his omega purr for the first time, and he childishly wanted to make you purr every moment of every day.

“This does pose a bit of an issue.” Maul whispered.

“What does?”

“Your nest takes up my whole bed.” Maul said seductively. “Wherever shall I sleep?”

“In my nest.” You said firmly. “Where I can keep you safe.”

Maul was amused instead of insulted, which you were relieved for. He settled down in the nest again, facing you this time. One hand tangled into your hair, petting it gently. Despite being unconscious for two days, the emotional turmoil of today seemed to have drained you. You fell asleep quite quickly, snuggling into your alpha’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pumping these chapters out quick... am I going too fast?


	5. Animus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Some serious types of abuse are talked about in this chapter. Nothing happens to the reader, or anyone else, but still. Also, there's some hinted past child abuse.

Waking up next to Maul was disorienting at first. A flash of panic had shot through you, reigned in immediately when Maul’s arms pulled you closer. His chin rested on top of your head, his arms wrapping around your frame tighter as his scent grew thicker. The metallic notes faded away almost completely, the spicy herbal scent prevailing. You chirped, leaning up to peck a kiss onto his jaw.

His eyes opened, pulling back from you a bit to look into your eyes. “I can’t remember the last time I slept so well.”

“Nests have a funny way of helping people sleep.” You said.

“I don’t think it’s the nest.” He said huskily, rubbing his cheek against your forehead. You chirped again, your inner omega thrilled at the scenting.

With nothing to do except wait to arrive on Tatooine, you stayed in your nest with Maul. He was still only in his underwear, and you only in your bra and pants. You let your gaze drift down his body, taking in the hard lines of his muscular frame. You ran your fingers over the black tattoos, his soulmarks, his scars. You committed them to memory as best as you could. Sometimes you would find a particularly rigid or interesting looking scar, and send a note of curiosity across your bond.

Maul obliged your whims. “That was from a sparring match with the droid who raised me.” “That was from a Rancor.” “A duel with a Jedi.” “A spar when I was in Orsis Academy.”

That last one was a surprise. “You were in Orsis Academy? I thought all the students and teachers were murdered.”

An uncomfortable feeling passed through your bond that told you all you needed to know.

“Kriff.” You whispered.

“It was on the orders of Sidious.” Maul explained.

“How old were you?” You dared to ask.

“Eight when I was enrolled, fifteen when I slaughtered them all and left.” Maul admitted.

“Fifteen.” You whispered, horrified. “When I was fifteen I wasn’t even allowed to leave the temple alone.”

“Jedi are very sheltered, considering they’re the Republic’s private army.” Maul criticized.

“Can’t argue with that.” You admitted, remembering Master Qui-Gon’s many arguments with the council against blindly following the Republic’s orders. You went back to tracing his scars, your fingers going back up to his ear and tapping the small ear ring there. “Do you remember- if not, it’s fine- what used to be here?”

“It was a flower.” Maul said quietly, almost mournfully. “It’s petals were black and it was bright orange in the center. It was… lovely.”

You couldn’t stop the tears that sprung to your eyes as you sat up in bed, pulling away from Maul’s embrace. Maul frowned, sitting up and watching you intently. You took in a shaky breath, trying to steady yourself. “A black fire lily… it was a black fire lily.”

The tears flowed down your cheeks and Maul leaned forward, pressing his forehead to yours gently. His hands came up to cup your cheeks, his thumbs rubbing away the falling tears. “There is nothing I regret more in my life than losing that mark… If I had been stronger, I could have succeeded in tracking down the target my master ordered me to kill. Then, he would not have taken it away from me.”

You sniffled a bit, “I wish you hadn’t bond marked me before you killed him… I could have helped you if I wasn’t unconscious.”

Maul smiled softly, kissing your forehead. “It doesn’t work like that, little one. Killing him was my task to complete, my journey of becoming a master.”

Maul shifted then, gently pulling you into his lap and nuzzling his face into your bond mark. “Though, I will admit, seeing you standing over the corpse of my master would have been a divine sight.”

You reached up again, gently touching Maul’s ear. A black fire lily…

\-----------------------

You had always been a fussy youngling. Your creche masters have over a dozen toddlers to take care of, and you had a habit of running off. Unlike some of your agemates who share your rambunctious trait, you weren’t loud about it. Your creche masters would find that any manner of distraction, whether it was cleaning up a mess made by another child, stopping a fight among your agemates, or getting meals ready provided you the split seconds you needed to tip toe away from the group.

Your creche masters had worried themselves sick over it the first few times you did it, but soon got used to it. They realized fairly quickly that you would be brought back by Master Qui-Gon within a few hours.

You were a well known sight around the temple now, your little legs sprinting you down the halls, a stuffed loth cat tucked under your arm. You pushed out with the force, feeling a slight tug in response, and altered your course to pursue the tug.

It led you down a few flights of stairs, passed a grumbling Master Windu, who made a valiant effort to snatch you up as you passed him. He abandoned the task once you were more than five feet away. There was no keeping up with a hyper youngling, not at his age.

Master Yoda chuckled at Master Windu as you disappeared around a corner. “Let it be, you ought.”

“Attachments are forbidden.” Master Windu argued.

You didn’t hear the rest, jumping onto a chair, then a table, then a window sill, peering down below to see your target of interest. You jumped from the window sill with a squeal, landing safely in the arms of Master Qui-Gon.

“Masser Kee-Gawn!” You squealed happily.

“Y/n, what a happy welcome.” He said teasingly. “I’ve only been back for an hour.”

“Fowers?” You asked, trying to be polite. “Pweas?”

“Ah, you just wanted to see the gardens.” Master Qui-Gon said, feigning sadness. “I thought you wanted to see me.”

Xanatos chuckled, “I’ll give the report to the council. You enjoy the ‘fowers’ Master ‘Kee-Gawn’.”

“Bah-buy!” You said, waving cheerily to Xanatos as he left. Master Qui-Gon balanced you on his hip, walking off towards the gardens.

“I felt your call in the force much stronger this time.” Master Qui-Gon said. “Your training must be going well. I’ll have to sit in on your next meditation.”

“Midaton is bowing.” You complained, then thrust your stuffed tooka up into Master Qui-Gon’s face. “Wook, Masser Noona fixed Fuzzy!”

You arrived at the gardens, and Master Qui-Gon wasted no time in settling both of you on a bench next to your favorite bushes. Master Qui-Gon found it amusing how most of your age mates gravitated to the pink flowers when they visited the gardens, or even some of the hanging blue ones. Things soft, and pretty. Your favorite were the very rare black fire lilies. You reached down with your little hand, picking up a fire lily that had fallen from its stem. Your fingers reached up to tug on Master’s Qui-Gon’s hair.

He turned, his back facing you so you could braid his hair to your heart’s content. You babbled about your stuffed tooka, your acrobatics lessons, and how you won a race against your other agemates. By the time you’re done, his hair is an intricate net of braids, dotted with black fire lilies that had fallen off their stems. You never picked any flowers that were still living, something Qui-Gon found adorable.

He barely registers the sun setting, but he does pick up on your babbling being dotted with yawns. Eventually, you rub your eyes with the back of your hand, wiggling onto Qui-Gon’s lap and hugging your stuffed tooka while resting your head on Qui-Gon’s chest. “Time for bed?”

You shook your head stubbornly, yawning even as you said, “Not sweepy.”

“Ah, well then, perhaps I should tell you a story?” Qui-Gon suggested.

“Yes pwease.” You agreed.

Qui-Gon leaned back on the stone bench, pointing up at various constellations, naming them and the planets that were near them. He discusses the mythology of the constellations, the history of the systems that make them up, and other things undeniable boring to a four year old.

Soon you were asleep in his arms, and he was free to carry you back to your creche, and place you in your nest along with your agemates. Your creche master, Master Noona smiled at him, tired but grateful. “I shouldn’t condone her running off like she does, but you watching her for a few hours tends to make it a bit calmer around here.”

Master Qui-Gon nodded, sending out a doting scent to surround Master Noona and her youngling filled nest. Master Noona yawned, falling asleep, her arms wrapped around at least four younglings.

He returned to his sleeping quarters, checked to make sure Xanatos was asleep, before settling into his own bed. He managed a few hours of sleep, before feeling a plea through the force, and then a tiny hand gently patting his face.

He cracked his eyes open to see you, sniffling while still clutching your stuffed tooka. “Masser Kee-Gawn?”

He sat up in bed, grabbing you under your arms and lifting you into his bed. “Why the tears, my little fire lily?”

“I had a bad dweam. I was in a dawk woom, and someone was cwying.” You said shakily. “Dey were huwt bad, but I couldn’t hewp dem.”

Master Qui-Gon laid back down, tucking you in beside him. “A nightmare is only fiction, little one. Remember how Master Noona showed you how to release your fears into the force? Why don’t we try together?”

You nodded, wiping your tears away and letting Master Qui-Gon lead you into a peaceful meditation, soon falling back asleep.

\----------------------

You sniffled, burying your face into Maul’s chest. Maul pumped out his scent as fast as he could, trying to calm you. “I- I’m okay.”

“You don’t look, sound, or smell okay.” Maul pointed out. “But I’m willing to hear a counter argument.”

You couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I need to go talk to Master Qui-Gon.”

Maul reluctantly removed his hands from you. He let you leave, even if he did insist on scenting you a bit more before you left.

You found Qui-Gon in the storage bay he was using as his room, meditating while sitting on the floor. A pillow had been tossed on the floor next to him, as if he had been waiting for you. You settled down on the pillow, crossing your legs and allowing yourself to drift into meditation. You felt Master Qui-Gon’s presence gently touch the mental blocks around your mind, and you lowered them, allowing him to communicate with you. The first thing you sensed from him was worry.

‘Is Maul being gentle?’ He asked.

Surprised at the directness, you answered. ‘Very. He is… odd. Well meaning, but somewhat closed off.’

Relief flooded your bond with Qui-Gon. ‘Good. After killing Sidious, I had a very long talk with Maul. Some of his ideas of courting were-’

Images of you, chained to the foot of Maul’s bed, a thick collar around your neck. Maul forcing you to the ground and yanking on your Padawan braid, severing it with his lightsaber while you thrashed against him. Maul, forcing you to sit in his lap after starving you for days, only letting you eat out of his hand once you finally broke down and begged for food.

‘Damaging.’ Qui-Gon finished.

‘You talked him out of that, and into being closed off but relatively nice in two days?’ You probed.

‘I shared some quite intimate memories with him of my former master’s teachings with his omega.’ Qui-Gon explained. ‘I also showed him memories I had of a few omegas I had to rescue from similar situations when I was very young. Showing him what tended to happen to the mind and spirits of omegas treated in such a way had him agreeing to learning a different courting method quite quickly.’

‘I thought most Sith liked hurting people.’

‘As I have said, Maul is not a Sith who embarked on that path to the dark side of his own volition. At his core, as I am certain you have felt, Maul has always wanted to be loved. He was forbidden friends, his only certain attachment being his intended soulmate. And Sidious tried to ensure even that relationship would never give Maul what he wanted.’

You let that sink in, understanding that if Maul had carried out on the methods Sidious told him he must ‘court’ you with, you would have fought him tooth and nail. Your resentment and anger would have built up until you hated him, and Maul, the fiend for affection he was, likely would have just resorted to more violence to try and force you to give him any type of positive attention.

‘One of us would have eventually killed the other.’ You realized.

‘And Sidious would either have Maul, fully broken and full of nothing but hate, or, you. Broken by torment, and ready to run into the arms of the first person to offer you kindness after you got away from your tormentor.’ Qui-Gon finished. ‘After I looked into his memories, I must admit, I became impressed with his strategic mind. Less impressed with his sadistic entitlement though.’

‘You keep criticizing him, saying he’s the worst kind of Sith. I don’t know of any other kind. I know I can never be a Jedi again, not with an attachment this big. But… I’ve had an attachment to you since before I can remember.’

‘The path of the Jedi leads to nothing but inaction and apathy. They turn a blind eye to slavery, to the never ending arguing and politically sanctioned genocide and tyranny. The oath they swear is not to the force, but to the Republic. They have resigned themselves to be nothing but attack dogs.’

‘And you intend to do, what exactly?’ You asked, not sure if you actually wanted to know.

‘The Jedi Order as we know it must fall. The Republic must never again control the force users that are useful, and make those they do not control illegal to exist. The Sith Order must rise again, but different. The Rule of Two must be forgotten, and The Forgotten Paths must come to be followed again.’

‘The Forgotten Paths?’ You questioned, entranced by his plans. The Jedi Order not being under the thumb of the Republic sounded amazing to you.

‘There used to be many more paths to the force other than the Jedi and Sith.’ Master Qui-Gon explained. A pulse rattled through both of your minds, an impatient concern. ‘Your alpha grows impatient. We can discuss more later.’

You both exited meditation, and you opened your eyes to meet the gaze of Master Qui-Gon. “Master, is there a reason why we force bonded when I was so young? Why the council never put a stop to it?”

Master Qui-Gon stood up, and you followed suit. “The bond is… complicated. And while the council couldn’t sever our bond, they could forbid me from taking you as an apprentice.”

The sound of a throat clearing made you look over your shoulder, seeing Maul standing in the doorway. “We will be landing on Tatooine within the hour.”

You crossed the floor to stand in front of Maul, standing on tiptoe for a brief moment to bump your nose along his jawline.

“Isn’t it polite to keep displays of affection in areas of privacy?” Obi-Wan piped up from his place on the couch.

You peered around Maul’s body, glaring at your oldest friend. “I spent months stuck with you on Mandalore, watching you make goo goo eyes at that Duchess, helping you sneak flowers into her room, and helping you learn Mando’a so you could recite her poetry after climbing into her window every night! You never even sealed the deal! You can suck it up.”

Qui-Gon rushed past you out of his room, glaring at Obi-Wan, “You did what!?”

Obi-Wan jumped up off the couch, pointing his finger at you, “You swore to never tell any Jedi that!”

“None of us are Jedi anymore!” You snapped.

“You suck into the bedroom of Duchess Kryze!?” Qui-Gon roared.

“She invited me in!” Obi-Wan protested.

“After his nightly poetry reading.” You affirmed. “Don’t worry, Obi is a talker, not a doer.”

“Oh, I was a doer.” Obi-Wan seethed, storming forward to shove his finger in your face. “And you were spending all of your free time cooing at that beta Librarian!”

“Me cooing at a beta Librarian didn’t threaten to cause a second civil war to break out on Mandalore.” You argued.

“You knew, and you helped him!?” Qui-Gon screamed.

“Please stop.” Came a very broken whisper.

All of you looked over to the side of the room to see Anakin, cowering behind a chair. You could feel yourself, Qui-Gon, and Obi all immediately reaching out to the force, pushing the anger away. You cleared your throat, approaching Anakin slowly and then kneeling next to his hiding spot.

“Hey, pup. Sorry we scared you. We’ll try and keep things a bit clamer from now on, okay?”

Anakin crawled out from behind the chair, reaching both of his hands up and wrapping his arms around your neck. You stood with him, balancing his weight on your hip and patting his back soothingly. You could feel waves of fear coming off of him. You figured the life of a slave was full of violence, and couldn’t imagine Anakin’s was any different.

“We weren’t going to hurt each other.” Obi-Wan assured Anakin softly, coming up next to you to pat the pup’s head. “We were just, arguing, is all.”

Anakin was still trembling, so you walked to the couch with him, sitting him on your lap and trying to let out a comforting scent. He curled into your chest, burying his face in your shirt. Maul left to the Cockpit, preparing to land. Master Qui-Gon told you to wait on the ship with Anakin while he and Obi-Wan went to recover Anakin’s mother.

“And C-3PO?” Anakin asked, turning his head only slightly to look at Qui-Gon.

Master Qui-Gon smiled, “And C-3PO.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might do a horribly angsty one shot about what would have happened if Maul had killed Qui-Gon, and enacted that abuse. Mostly as a vent fic. But for now, I'll focus on the mostly happy story I've got going here.


	6. Agreement

Anakin was hard to keep up with normally, but Anakin when he was too excited to stay sitting down was a new nightmare. He was pacing, bouncing on the balls of his feet, wringing his hands nervously, and biting his nails. His presence in the force was particularly draining, as it was causing you to get anxious by association. You wished Obi had stayed behind with you as well, he was a natural nurturer and excellent at meditation. He could have calmed Anakin.

Maul sensed your unease through the bond, coming down from the cockpit through the lift and watching you and Anakin. The pup was currently bouncing on his feet nervously, wringing his hands so hard you could practically feel the ache in your own knuckles. He kept glancing towards the airlock, waiting for any sound or sign that Qui-Gon was back with his mother.

Maul came to stand behind the couch, leaning over to run his jaw over the top of your head. "How long has he been like this?"

"Since we landed." You whispered. "I'm just… I know it's wrong, but I'm considering force persuading him into a nap."

Maul raised an eyebrow, smirking. "How would that go over with your master?"

"... Hard to say."

"Anakin." Maul said. The pup whipped his head around to face the Zabrak. "I have an old training droid. Let's put all that energy to some good use."

The three of you found yourselves in the cargo hold as Maul dug out an old training droid. You recognized the model as one younglings at the temple trained with. Maul set the power cell to the lowest intensity (at your insistence) and explained the exercise to Anakin.

"This is going to fire blaster bolts at you- relax, you'll barely feel it. Were going to blindfold you, and you'll use Y/n's saber to deflect the bolts before they hit you."

"Why hers?" Anakin questioned as you handed him one of your saber hilts after adjusting the power flow to ensure Anakin couldn't accidentally cut off his arm.

"My own is designed for a particular style, an advanced one." Maul explained. "You'll need to master using a single blade before you attempt a dual wield, or a double bladed saber."

Anakin pressed the button on your saber, jerking back as the purple blade came out. "Oh! It's warm."

"Because it burns." You commented. "The droid will turn off and stop firing once you deflect a bolt back at it. So try to hit the bolt back in the same direction."

Maul walked behind Anakin with a scrap of cloth, tying it to cover his eyes. Anakin squared his shoulders, and you and Maul both moved to adjust his stance. Your hands brushed as you both reached to tap Anakin's ankle to have him widen his stance. You forced yourself to not think about how nice holding his hand had felt, or how safe you had felt when he held you in your nest. A jolt of amusement through your bond told you that Maul knew anyways.

“You’re short, so you don’t have to crouch much to keep your balance.” Maul noted, to your surprise.

In your experience, taller alphas like Maul tended to mess up when instructing younglings. They usually relied on their height and muscle to fight, and thus, when instructing a small pup with no upper body strength, they taught them all the wrong habits. You thought back to your fight on Naboo, how often Maul had relied on back flipping out of harm's way, or even back flipping across gaps between walkways, a plummet sure to kill him if he missed. Maul was definitely an odd alpha.

You both moved to the side, letting Anakin start the training exercise. He was very strong with the force, and finally watching the boy in action made you understand Qui-Gon's desire to have him trained. Anakin's presence in the force was far stronger and more confident than an untrained nine year old had any right to be.

Maul noticed your feelings through your bond, and nodded. "It’s unsettling. That's why I tried to kill him the last time I was on Tatooine."

You frowned, and Anakin turned away from the droid, eyebrows shooting up. "Oh, that was you!"

A blaster bolt shot Anakin in the chest, making him grunt and raise your saber again. "Master Maul, are you sure it's supposed to hurt this bad?"

"Does it hurt more than a pinch?" Maul asked.

"Yes."

"Does it hurt less than a punch?"

"... Yes."

"It’s on the right setting." Maul confirmed.

Anakin managed to block the next one, but it didn't come close to hitting the droid.

"Did I hit it?" Another bolt hit Anakin, in the leg this time. "Ow!"

"No." You said.

Anakin kept going, stubbornly trying to fling your saber at just the right angle to send the bolt back to the droid.

"Stay calm." You instructed. "The force will guide your body, but you cannot give into your emotion."

Maul shook his head, "Anger gives you power. Use it to strike, and you will not fail."

The two of you looked at each other, the unsettling reality of not understanding how each other worked on a fundamental level settling over you both. How would any of you manage to train Anakin? Qui-Gon must have some idea of where the middle ground was between the Jedi and Sith, and you hoped he could shed light on it. Right now, there was only uncertainty between you and your alpha.

You timidly reached across the bond, trying to tell him that you two could try and find a oath that worked for you both. Maul did not turn away from you, giving a small nod of recognition. He had bonded you, he wanted the relationship between you both to be positive. He wanted to see you stay healthy, to make you happy. He wanted you to depend on him for everything, but seemed more than unwilling to be vulnerable around you. You don't bother trying to explain that in itself was unhealthy. Maul was a complicated concoction of a man, one you were going to have to take in doses.

Qui-Gon might have been able to change Maul's chosen method of courting in two days, but you weren't sure if you'd ever be able to change Maul's desire to be the only person providing you happiness in life.

You sat on a crate, watching Anakin slowly reach out into the force to guide him. Maul stood next to you, and lowered his guard enough for you to feel him through your bond clearly. He watched with patience as Anakin slowly got better and better, wondering what the boy’s future would hold. His mind wandered a bit, wondering what it would feel like to train his own apprentice one day. That thought wandered off, turning into what it would feel like to train his own pup one day. An image struck you through the bond, a zabrak child, a boy, with bright red skin just like Maul. Tattoos that mirrored Maul’s own, and a double sided lightsaber. At first, in this fantasy, the lightsaber was red. A moment later, the blades changed to a purple color, matching yours.

You leaned to the side, letting your headrest on Maul’s shoulder. You knew what the change in color symbolized. Your own dark purple might be a bit too close to the dark side for the Jedi’s comfort, but it was still on the light side. Maul was open to a future where his own child didn’t walk the path of the Sith. Not totally, anyways.

Maul’s mind drifted more, picturing you holding the same child, much younger now, cooing at him to try and coax him to sleep. You chuckled at that one. Maul had likely seen visions of what a terror you were as a child, and you didn’t doubt that if you were to have a pup, they would be as difficult as you were. A little zabrak pup with your insistence of running off, refusing to sleep, demanding to be taken to your favorite places… oh, how little sleep you would get.

Being raised in the Jedi temple hadn’t afforded you the leisure of even considering a future with a mate and pups. You hadn’t ever considered yourself mother material after your horrible experiences volunteering in creche.

A sound of the airlock opening jolted both you and Maul out of your thoughts. Anaking ripped his blindfold off, turning off and dropping your lightsaber and taking off, ignoring the droid which kept firing bolts at his retreating mack. Maul groaned, reaching out with the force and turning the droid off. You retrieved your lightsaber, and you and Maul walked into the ready room. Anaking was clinging to his mother, his face buried in her neck as she cooed him into relaxing.

Qui-Gon chuckled, picking up the bag you assumed was Shmi’s. “I’ll set this in-”

You walked forward, taking it from Qui-Gon. “She’ll have the second bedroom. I’ll set this in there.”

You felt a wave of approval from Maul through your bond, obviously quite pleased you intended on staying with him from now on. You set Shmi’s things in her new room, listening to Anakin babble on about all the adventure’s he’d been on since she last saw him. Shmi and Anakin alone in Shmi’s room, you return to the ready room, listening to Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Maul discuss the next destination.

“We need to travel to Serenno, that’s where we will need to stay while we prepare for the next step in my plans.” Qui-Gon said.

“And what exactly is the next step?” You probed. You felt Obi-Wan tense through your faint bond, both of you apprehensive about the future Qui-Gon had in mind.

“Establishing a formal order of force users, not Sith or Jedi.” Master Qui-Gon said firmly. “Teaching force users to have attachment without letting fear of losing the objects of your attachment control you.”

“The Republic and the Jedi Order will have us all arrested and tried for treason the second we step foot in Republic controlled space.” Obi pointed out. “How do you expect to form an entire order?”

Qui-Gon gave Obi that coy smile of his that had always let you know he was the only one at the sabacc table playing with a full deck. “I have some ideas, but my contact on Serenno will have to help us with them.”

You frowned, putting a few pieces of information together. “Are we really flying into the outer rim to hide at Master Dooku’s mansion?”

Qui-Gon nodded. “Better than hiding on Tatooine. And Count Dooku has the resources to do much more than help us form an order. A change is coming in the force, Dooku has sensed it as well, I’m sure.”

“He was the one who turned you to the dark side, right?” You asked.

“To be frank, it wasn’t a turn to the dark. Just learning how to use both sides of the force- but the force isn’t a two-sided coin. It has many aspects besides dark and light, and you can use both without being corrupted or becoming wholly apathetic. I maintained the mask of a Jedi my entire life, while still almost routinely using the dark side of the force.” Qui-Gon explained. “I feel once Jedi realize that they can have attachments and passions without falling into a completely corrupted sith, we’ll have more students than we’ll know what to do with. But first-” He gestured to you, Obi, and Maul, “I must teach the three of you, and Anakin. Once that is done, we can try and establish our Order more formally in the Outer Rim.”

You were all silent for a moment, before Obi-Wan spoke, “What if we create Sith? True, corrupted Sith?”

“Even the Jedi Order has created Sith.” Qui-Gon said gently. “Any order that teaches the way of the force risks it’s members falling to the dark, and being corrupted by it. We will be at even less of a risk than the Jedi, as we will teach them how to walk in the darkness without it controlling them. If a Jedi falls, they have no frame of reference, they don’t know how to navigate the dark, and that is why they fall so far. Our future students will be able to bring themselves back from the darkness.”

Obi-Wan was skeptical. Kriff, you were skeptical yourself but… just the idea of there being another path, a better path then either Jedi or Sith made you want to believe. Qui-Gon was the closest thing to a father you had ever had, the man you had always trusted to protect you, to guide you. Surely, it couldn’t all be an act? Or some devious deception to trick you into the dark?

You felt Maul’s presence in your mind, eagerly offering to throw Qui-Gon off the Scimitar and to take you and the others wherever you wanted. You almost laughed, turning down his offer with a thankful mind.

“Next stop, Serenno.” You said, cementing your decision.

\---------------

That night, you laid in your nest with Maul, your head on his chest so you could listen to both of his hearts beating. His hands wandered over your frame, covered only by one of his spare shirts. Maul himself was only in a loose pair of shorts, his long legs practically begging you to wrap yours around them. He was amused with you wrapped both of our legs around one of his.

“Is this how omega’s show dominance?” He asked coyly.

“Are you submitting?” You teased.

One hand traveled down your back to find a perk on your hip, patting you there as if in warning. “Don’t mistake relaxation for submission.”

You yawned, snuggling further into his chest and distracting yourself from your anxieties about the future by tracing Maul’s tattoos. He seemed to like it when you did that, a note of pleasure and approval rushing through your bond. Maul’s body was unusual in color, but the very picture of an alpha in form. Every muscle seemed to be fine tuned to its peak, as big as they could be to still allow Maul to be lithe enough for his very swift and aerial combat form.

You thought back to the brief training you had helped Anakin with, and purred at the memory of Maul’s firm but ultimately encouraging instruction to the pup. “One day.”

“Hm?”

“I’m willing to have a pup, one day.” You whispered.

Maul’s arms wrapped tighter around you, his jaw rubbing against the top of your head as a low rumble in his chest started a deep purr. “I would be honored to put a pup in you, little one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short compared to the other ones, but I felt like this little 'in between' was necessary. Qui-Gon's elaboration, Maul still being soft, but the problems between him and the reader are still prevalent beneath their surface level interactions. Whose ready to meet my version of Count Dooku? :3


	7. Ambrosia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SEX HAPPENS!!! IT'S CONSENSUAL, BUT IT'S PAINFUL! ALPHA KNOTS ARE BIG!
> 
> Alcohol is consumed by adults responsibly.
> 
> Also Count Dooku is a really nice stand in grandfather.
> 
> So, my friend who is obsessed with Darth Maul (read every single novel and comic book with him even mentioned in it, pretty sure he owns Darth Maul undies) says that in canon and legends, Maul has never drank alcohol. Even when he has to go to a Cantina, he just orders water. I chalked that up to him being Darth Hideous' apprentice, and needing to be constantly on alert in case of an attack, so I figured with an omega, and in this new setting, Maul might see fit to try wine for the first time.

Serenno was a nice enough planet, you supposed. It had a somewhat dim atmosphere, leaving the planet looking like a thin layer of beige fog hung over everything. Stepping out of the Scimitar onto the landing platform in front of a grand palace, Maul at your side, you felt a bit out of place. Did a former Jedi truly live here? Jedi owned next to nothing other than their lightsabers and the clothes on their backs. How did you go from that, to the picture of luxury?

Several protocol droids came out to greet you, along with an older looking man in very fine clothing. He smiled warmly at Qui-Gon, opening his arms in a sweeping gesture, “Ah, my old apprentice! How good to see you again.”

Master Qui-Gon smiled, stepping into the embrace with Dooku and returning it. As the men drew apart, their hands still on each other’s shoulders, Qui-Gon said, “It is good to see you too, though I wish the situation not so dire.”

Count Dooku waved off Qui-Gon’s concern, “Nonsense. We both knew a boiling point would be reached, eventually. Now, is this little Obi!?”

Dooku turned to Obi-Wan, looking the young man over with surprise. “Why, wasn’t it just last year you were only about this tall?” He waved his hand about the height of his chest, grinning.

“Maybe more than one year,” Obi-Wan said, embracing Dooku as Master Qui-Gon had done. “Mas- Uh, Count Dooku.”

Dooku chuckled, “Perhaps. Now, who is this beautiful young omega? This couldn’t possibly be little y/n, could it?”

You smiled politely as Count Dooku opened his arms, stepping into his embrace. “I’ve missed you, Master Dooku.”

“Ah, still refusing my current title, are you?” Dooku teased.

“Count doesn’t suite you.” You explained.

“Understandable. Perhaps, with time, our own little order might adopt different titles than Master or Lord. They’re a bit dated anyways.” Dooku prattled. “Oh, but I’m being rude, who is this young man?”

You turned, gesturing to Maul. “This is Darth Maul, Sith Lord, and my alpha.”

Maul started to bow in greeting, “A pleas-”

Dooku stepped forward, gripping Maul’s shoulders in a friendly manner. “None of that, young Lord! We’re family, of sorts, after all!”

Maul looked wholly uncomfortable as Dooku processed to hug him, looking very relieved when it was over.

Dooku looked towards Shmi and Anakin, “And I see there are more in your little pack. I’d dare say it would be best to get to know each other over lunch, wouldn’t you all agree? My chef makes a delicious stuffed Plavonian starfish.”

Dooku lead you all down several hallways, until you got to a rather grand dining room, where multiple places had been set. Dooku sat at the head, and you all filed in randomly. You and Maul ended up on Dooku’s left side, yourself sitting closer to Dooku than Maul, with Anakin on the other side of you. Qui-Gon sat on Dooku’s right, followed by Obi-Wan, then Shmi.

Conversation continued, Dooku making polite small talk, slowly learning the background of Shmi and Anakin, and then the incident on Naboo. Dooku frowned a bit at learning your bonding had happened how it did, but did not comment. Lunch, as he had said, was delicious. You noticed Anakin shoveling food into his mouth until Shmi, embarrassed, kicked him under the table to get him to slow down.

You chuckled, reaching over and adjusting Anakin’s grip on the utensils to show him the proper way. Anakin seemed a bit embarrassed as well. You couldn’t imagine what this was all like for a boy who had been a slave less than a week ago.

“Well, with all that known, I’d say we have a fairly decent shot at creating a- how did you put it once, Qui-Gon? A three party force academy system?” Dooku said.

“The Jedi and Republic will no doubt oppose it, which is where I’m doubtful.” Qui-Gon admitted. “I know you’ve been working on things in secret, and I wouldn’t want to put you in harms way, but-”

“Nonsense! The only reason I’ve been meddling on Kamino is to ensure that once this happened, we would be prepared.” Dooku said with insistence. “You are not alone in your ambition to right the wrongs of the Jedi and Sith. Have you forgotten who put those ambitions into that thick head of yours?”

You laughed, despite yourself, at Dooku’s words. Hearing someone talk to your master like that would normally infuriate you, but this was Master Dooku. This man was functionally your grandfather, and thus, his insults were allowed. They were just the teasing of a man to his son.

After lunch, Dooku invited you all on a walk around the property, and you perked up, eager to see if he had any gardens.

He did. Though they were nowhere near as colorful as the ones at the Jedi Temple. Plants on Serenno were a bit dull and muted compared to the bright pink, blue, red, and various other colors you had seen. Anakin and Shmi were quite impressed though, coming from a desert planet with hardly any vegetation. Maul stuck very close to you the whole tour, always no more than two steps from touching your back with his chest.

The tour ended in Dooku’s parlor, where Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan helped themselves to Dooku’s small collection of various whiskey, and Dooku, you, and Maul sat together near the balcony. Shmi and Anakin had retired to their rooms after dinner, as Anakin was quite young and Shmi didn’t want to leave him alone.

Master Dooku walked behind a desk to peruse a large display of wine bottles. “Y/n, if I recall correctly, you prefer something sweet and fruity?”

“Yes, please.” You said politely.

Dooku glanced at Maul, “Any preference from you, my friend?”

“I have never partaken.” Maul admitted. You turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. “I am fine with what my omega is having.”

Dooku plucked two different bottles from the shelf, and returned to where the three of you sat. He poured two glasses from one bottle, and one glass from the other, offering you and Maul the two glasses with the same wine. “Very well. In my experience, males, particularly male alphas, tend to have a preference towards bold and earthy flavors. If you’d like, I have a rather large collection, and I’d be very interested to test your palette. I’ve never had a Zabrak sample any of my wines before.”

“Thank you.” Maul said, taking his glass.

You took yours, sipping happily and swaying a little at the taste. Dooku chuckled, “You still dance when you eat?”

You blushed a bit, laughing to brush off the embarrassment. “I never really grew out of it.”

Maul’s arm draped over your shoulders, his thumb rubbing circles on your arm as he sipped his wine. You couldn’t tell from his expression if he liked it or not, but he didn’t feel displeased through the bond. You took that as he didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it either.

Qui-Gon and Obi joined the three of you, glasses ridiculously full of bright blue whiskey. Qui-Gon spoke, “That’s right, I remember. You used to dance at the table with every meal. Master Noona said it was normal for omega pups, and that you would grow out of it.”

Obi cracked a grin, “You’d even dance at dinner when you were exhausted from training. I remember looking over at you one night, and you were asleep at the table, part of your dinner hanging out of your mouth, and your fork still full of your next bite.”

You snickered, “Yeah? Well, I remember you used to cry if Master Noona didn’t let you cuddle up to her in her nest for nap time.”

Qui-Gon chuckled. “You were quite the clingy pup as well, Y/n. I remember you would cling to me every time you saw me, demanding I carry you everywhere, even Master Yoda would tease you about it.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At four years old, you had gotten quite good at giving your creche masters the slip so you could sprint off on some grand adventure. You enjoyed hiding in the library, or going to the Contemplation Gardens to hide in bushes with a sizable stick. You’d pretend to be a Jedi Master, on a mission to do… well, you were four, and had no idea what Jedi Masters did. But you knew it was important.

Today, however, you had a very specific mission in mind. You had to find Master Qui-Gon. You had felt him return at breakfast through the force, but were unable to slip away until now, hours later. Master Noona must have heard when you whispered ‘Masser Kee-Gawn’ out of excitement, because she had kept a very close eye on you all day. Until now, when she got distracted because another child had fallen down the stairs and started screaming.

You marched down the halls, head head high with your stuffed tooka cat tucked under your arm. Masters and Knights alike gave you amused looks as you walked through the hallways. Master Windu stepped in front of you, looking down at you sternly. “Youngling, return to your creche, or I will personally call your Master.”

Catching sight of your target behind Master Windu, you grinned, pointing, “Masser!”

Master Windu glanced over his shoulder, and you darted between his legs, almost tangling yourself in his long robe, and ran with arms extended to Master Qui-Gon. The long haired Master paused his conversation with Yoda to scoop you into his arms, smiling fondly. “Hello there, Y/n.”

“Masser!” You giggled happily. “I missed you!”

Master Qui-Gon settled you on his hip, patting your head affectionately. “I was only gone for two weeks.”

“Missed you.” You said firmly, burying your face in his shoulder and sighing contentedly as his scent rubbed off onto you.

Master Yoda chuckled, “Quite a handful, that one is. Much attention, she needs.”

You bristled at the line, turning your head to stick your tongue out at the small green man. Master Qui-Gon flicked your tongue with his finger, causing you to squeak and retract it. “I’ve found that the buds which need to most tending and attention blossom into the rarest flowers.”

“Fowwers?” You asked. “See fowwers, pwease?”

Master Qui-Gon patted your back, “You’ll have to excuse me, Master. My future Padawan requires to be taken to the gardens.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maul chuckled beside you, “I’ve seen several visions of your childhood. You didn’t even try to hide your attachment. I’m surprised the Jedi didn’t kick you out before you became a Padawan.”

“To be fair, the attachment was no stronger than a typical training bond.” Master Qui-Gon explained. “The only punishment for having developed one with her was that I was not permitted to take her as my Padawan. Master Windu saw to that.”

You frowned at the mention of the strict Jedi Master, and Maul even growled a little beside you. “Yes. I’ve seen visions of him as well.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The night, you and Maul retired to the rooms Dooku had set aside for the two of you. Glancing at the bed, you noticed that the servants had brought all of your nesting blankets in, and had folded them neatly at the foot of the bed. The room itself was large, very grand, and seemingly normal… except for one feature.

“Why is the bathtub in the bedroom?” Maul asked, walking over to the aforementioned feature. It was right on the edge of the room, right next to the double doors that opened out onto the balcony.

You blushed, “That’s… not a bathtub. It’s a hot tub.”

“What’s the difference?” Maul questioned.

“Uh… bathtubs are for getting clean, hot tubs are more for… relaxing, or… getting dirty.” You said timidly.

Maul looked at you, confused. “Dirty? It’s filled with water.”

“Sex.”

Maul’s eye practically lit up, and you had to stop yourself from laughing. “How creative… it would be rude to not utilize the luxuries our host has provided us.”

He stalks towards you, and your inner omega tenses, ready to either run or roll over. You have a better idea. You rush towards Maul, pouncing on him and succeeding in throwing him off balance. You want to end up on the floor, on top of him, but he turns in mid air, and you end up on the floor with Maul on top of you, kneeling between your legs and his hands pinning your arms down on the floor.

“What a disobedient omega.” Maul chides lustfully. “Shall I… correct you?”

You grin, “You can try.”

Maul growls, low and dangerous in the back of his throat. “Don’t try and tease me, omega.”

“It’s only teasing if I don’t follow through.” You defended, leaning up as much as you could to kiss his jaw. “And I have no intentions of not following through.”

Maul tightened his grip on your forearms, his face suddenly turning stern. “Omega… I have been going through considerable strain these past few days to control myself, so as to not force you into anything you did not want. But my self control only goes so far. If you start this, I will not be able to stop. Think about whether you truly want to take my knot.”

The mention of his alpha biology made you blush a bit, as you hadn’t actually thought about his knot itself, just the act of sex in general. Seeing as you had only taken betas to bed before, you had never taken a knot, and the idea made you more than a bit nervous. “I… will you be gentle?”

Maul’s stern expression melted into a soft smile. “I will take great care not to harm you, little one.”

Butterflies filled your stomach at his pet name for you, and you leaned up to kiss his ear, right over his piercing was. You felt a slight tinge of sadness from him, likely thinking about the soulmark he had lost. Well, that wouldn’t do. You weren’t going to have your alpha upset during your coupling. “You may have me, alpha.”

Maul wasted no time, releasing your arms to grab your hips, lifting you effortlessly even as you gasped. Before you could ask what he was doing, you found yourself tossed onto the lavish bed. Glancing up, you see Maul stalking towards you, the very image of a predator on the hunt. You grab the bottom of your tunic, quickly removing all of your outer robes and layers. Maul stops where he stands, a satisfied look on his face as you toss your clothing away until you’re in nothing but your underwear and bra.

“Eager?” He teases, sliding onto the bed. His hands find your waist, running over your exposed skin and clearly savoring the sensation.

“Very.” You admit. Your lips meet in a gentle passion that you weren’t aware was possible to achieve. You could feel Maul indulging himself, but still holding something back, even as he ripped away your bra and underwear. The sharp tugs had made you gasp, and he took full advantage, shoving his tongue into your mouth and running it along your teeth. You toyed with the idea of giving his tongue a playful nip, but decided against it.

Maul pulled away from you, beginning to shed his robes. You arched off the bed, grinding your core against the bulge in his trousers. Maul smacked your thigh with a growl, ending your movement with a stern warning look.

You settled for watching him undress, marveling again at how strong he was. You could watch him move all day, feasting your eyes on the muscle wrapped with the vibrant red and pitch black of his skin. “Stars, you’re beautiful.”

He paused, now clad only in his underwear, confused at your praise. He had never been called that before, you could tell. You smiled at him, leaning up to cup his cheek. “Absolutely, stunningly, beautiful.”

You didn’t think Maul was capable of blushing in a way that was noticeable to your eyes, but you would bet that he was blushing in that moment.

Maul shed himself of his underwear, and your gaze shot down to openly stare at his cock. Much, much bigger than a beta’s. It was long and thick in all the best ways, with a slight upwards curve that had you certain he could hit that lovely little bundle of nerves inside of you. You grinned up at him, licking your lips in an obviously flirtatious way.

“Can I taste you, alpha?”

Maul smirked, reaching up to grab your padawan braid as he shifted to sit back against the pillows. His grip on your braid guided you down to be eye to eye with his cock. “Open, omega.”

From this close, you could see a wet looking black spec on the tip. You touched it with your finger, gathering it and looking at it as it rested on the tip of your finger. “What’s this?”

Maul raised a non-existent eyebrow. “My cum?”

Your eyes widened, “Your cum is black!?”

“Isn’t everyone’s?” He asked.

“No, a human's cum is white.” You explained.

Maul rolled his eyes, giving your braid a sharp tug. “Omega.”

You opened, eagerly taking the head of his cock into your mouth and sucking while you rolled your tongue over it, lapping up a bit of precum that had gathered again. The taste, surprisingly, wasn’t salty. Rather, it was sweet. Not overly, but faintly. You took more of him in your mouth, wrapping your hands around what you couldn’t fit. You hollowed out your cheeks, and started a slow bob, up and down.

Maul leaned back onto the pillows, groaning in the back of his throat, his hand still gripping your briad. Occasionally, he would give your braid a tug, demanding you speed up. Eventually, you gagged, and had to pull back, gasping. Maul moved, using your braid to guide you forward onto your knees, your face pressed lightly into the blankets. He finally let go of your braid, the hand instead pressing down onto your lower back until it was arched to his liking.

His other hand went down, rubbing against your sex. Maul chuckled, “Wet, already?”

“You smell good~!” Was your only defense.

His finger circled around your clit a few times before he slowly inserted it into you, wiggling and rubbing until you relaxed enough to take a second, then a third. Satisfied that you were ready, he removed his fingers, and you bit the pillow beneath you when you felt the blunt head of his cock rubbing against your entrance. Maul grabbed your braid again, barely pulling on it to get you to release the pillow from your mouth.

“I want to hear you, omega.” He insisted.

His cock started to push into you, the blunt head stretching you with a very slight burn. “K-kriff.”

Maul’s other hand patted your hip, “There we are, just relax.”

His head fully in, he began a gentle rocking motion, going in a little more with each forward thrust. You breathed steadily, gripping the blanket beneath you with a white knuckled grip. By the time you feel Maul’s hips rest against the globes of your as, you nearly cry with relief.

Maul leans down, kissing the back of your neck sweetly. “There we are, the worst is over now. Now, there is only pleasure…”

He waits until you relax around him, then he starts his pace, pulling out to the tip, and then going all the way back in. He starts slow, only going faster when you reach up to hold the hand wrapped around your braid. He lets go of your hair, interlocking his fingers in yours. You squeeze his hand, panting as he picks up the pace, bringing your hips back to meet each thrust. He gets faster, rougher, more and more animalistic, growls and snarls fall out of his mouth as you feel his knot start to swell.

His hand comes around to your clit, rubbing rough little circles into it as his snap forward impossibly fast. You reach the edge of your release all too soon, clamping down on his knot as he comes with a loud growl, his teeth sinking into your mating bone, renewing the wound.

You let out several helpless chirps at the pain from his bite and the sting of his knot. Maul laps his tongue over the wound, licking away the blood, and cooing at you as he does. Praise falls from his lips, lovingly maneuvering the two of you to lay on your side as his arms wrap around you, his face still pressed to your mating bond, kissing and licking as he does.

“Such a good omega. That cunt of yours is sin, omega. So tight for me, so wet for me. You take my knot so well- ah, don’t clamp down now, just relax, little one.”

You pant, trying to listen to him and relax, but that knot of his is too big. It hurts, stinging your walls as it keeps the two of you locked together. With every breath you take, your abdomen moves, moving your hips and thus your hips. His knot tugs slightly, and ever tug feels like someone pushing against a knotted muscle, a dull, throb of pain that disappears but comes back with your next breath in.

One of Maul’s hands drifts down, rubbing firm circles onto your inner thigh. The scent glands there leak under his touch, and despite the dull pain in your core, you find yourself purring under his ministrations. Yes, there had been pain, but there was almost always pain when taking your first knot, or so you had been told. Maul hadn’t hurt you maliciously, this was just how it was with an omega’s first few times.

Maul smiled as you started to purr, giving your bond mark another soft kiss. “Good omega.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I head canon that Maul is a service top. Very giving, definitely wants you to have a good time in bed. But, if you offer to give him head, Maul turns pretty strict and horny, very quickly. Also, I head canon that Zabrak's have black cum purely based on aesthetic reasons.


	8. Adjustments

You and Maul had settled into a comfortable routine on Serenno. The three weeks you had been here had blurred together somewhat, with Dooku and Qui-Gon often locked in Dooku’s office, on constant holonet calls with various Serenno nobility. You, Maul, and Obi-Wan typically spent the day training, and instructing Anakin in various meditation techniques. With his brief free time, Master Qui-Gon had begun instructing you and Obi-Wan in his… middle ground techniques.

The dark side, something you had always feared, was much less scary when Master Qui-Gon guided you to it, holding your hand and showing you just how much emotion you were ready to use without being corrupted. Maul was training with Qui-Gon as well, his lessons held in private, you and Obi-Wan forbidden from attending.

Maul didn’t speak much of his lessons, all you knew was he came back tense, and distracted. All you knew was that, to degree, Maul was unlearning his Sith training. Master Qui-Gon was showing him the way to a more balanced path.

Currently, you were laying on your side in bed, Maul spooning you from behind, his face nuzzling into your bond mark as he slept. You had awoken a few minutes ago, but couldn’t be bothered to leave the bed, enjoying the warmth of Maul’s embrace far too much to face the cold air of your room.

Maul stirred behind you, mumbling into your neck, “I never slept in until I met you.”

“Oh?” You asked softly.

“There was never a reason to stay in bed.” He said sleepily, rolling his hips forward to press his morning wood into your ass. “But now…”

You wiggled a bit, managing to tug the bottom of your nightgown up to expose your ass to Maul. Still quite nude from the night before, Maul’s cock slipped easily into your folds, causing you to gasp a bit. Maul’s daily, occasionally twice daily, urge to bend you over and breed you had forced you to get used to his size. Now, he could slip in easily, no pain blossoming from your pussy as he did, just a firm stretch that felt good.

Maul stilled inside of you, his semi-hard length slowly growing as you both laid there. Maul had a thing for cuddles that included cockwarming, especially when it turned into fucking. You snuggled further into Maul’s embrace, turning your head to press a kiss to the soulmate mark on his bicep.

A low rumbling sound came from Maul’s chest, that little half purr that always got cut off before it could turn into a true purr. His hips rolled forward again, starting a slow rhythm that had you sighing in pleasure, the tip of his cock rubbing over that lovely little bundle of nerves inside of you. One of his hands traveled down to your cunt, rubbing gentle little circles into your clit.

You groaned, clamping down on his cock as you felt his knot beginning to expand. “A-alpha.”

Maul growled, and you reached up, cupping the side of his face. “Alpha, are you- Ah! Gonna knot me?”

“I’ll lock your wet little pussy up tight.” Maul growled into your ear. “Keep your belly full of my cum, put a Zabrak pup in you… you like the sound of that?”

Your cunt clamping down on his knot as you reached orgasm, milking him into his own release was his answer. That, and your scream of pleasure.

Panting, the two of you descended into a frenzy of soft kisses and gentle caresses. Maul smiled down at you fondly, “I take it that’s a yes?”

“Yes.” You said softly. “Not sure if now is a good time, with everything going on, but… I like the sound of starting a family with you. Training Anakin has given me a bit of pup fever.”

Maul smirked, “I’ll have to thank the little womp rat.”

“Please refrain.”

\------------------------------------------------------

Once your morning hygiene routine was done, you and Maul joined Obi-Wan and Anakin in the garden for meditation, followed by some simple exercise and combat practice. Sparring with Obi-Wan while Anakin and Maul watched, Maul occasionally pointing out a key feature in you or Obi’s stance that Anakin should try to mimic.

Sparring would continue from there, partners rotating at random. You would never admit it, but you loved watching Maul spar. When he sparred with Obi, the underlying aggression between the two alphas called out to you so much, you had to meditate the desire away, just to avoid the entire courtyard smelling like a horny omega. And watching Maul spar with little Anakin, the man pulling his strikes back, softening any blows that would have hit the pup, and giving snappish but well meaning correction only increased your desire for a family.

"You're drooling." Obi teased as you both watched Maul and Anakin spar.

You glared at him, "Am not."

"Nothing to be ashamed of." Obi said, smirking. "You're only on the edge of purring in public."

You rolled your eyes, "Don't be jealous just because I'm getting laid."

Obi snorted, "Jealous? Hardly. Your first knot was a Sith with Mommy, Daddy, and anger issues. Mine was with a duchess."

You smirked, "Ah, so you did pop a knot in Satine."

"I read her poetry beneath the moonlight every night for a month before she let me into her bedroom. Of course I knotted her! I just worked for it." Obi defended, then his tone switched to a teasing one. "You seemed to spread your legs quite quickly though. Is Maul secretly very charming, or is my dearest friend a slut?"

"Both." You admitted. "Well, maybe more of the former. I'm only a slut for my alpha."

Obi chuckled, despite himself. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Master Qui-Gon and I were worried you would take a while to adjust. Seeing you at peace, and feeling Maul get calmer each day, it makes me feel… well, more at ease."

"You know…" You said gently, "With our current situation, you could contact Satine again."

Obi was silent for a moment, a few different emotions bubbling beneath the surface of the bond you shared. "I have… been considering it. Master Qui-Gon seems to intent to begin reaching out to other neutral systems soon, and considering Mandalorians are inherently opposed to Jedi, it might be a worthy idea to form an alliance with her once more. I have… missed her."

You reached out through the force, offering him a feeling of understanding and loyalty. "I know you have. When we were young I thought you might have left the order for her."

"I would have, if only she had asked." Obi said, wistfully. "If I had… perhaps Master Qui-Gon could have properly trained you as his padawan."

"I doubt Master Windu would have allowed it." You shot down.

One of Dooku's protocol droids appeared in the courtyard, informing the four of you that lunch would be ready soon. After quick showers, the four of you joined Dooku, Qui-Gon, and Shmi in the dining room. As you entered, you caught a sight that made you grin. Qui-Gon had leaned closer to Shmi, a loving smile on his face and fondness in his eyes as she said something quietly to him. His grin stretched wider as she finished speaking, laughing at something she said. Shmi herself was practically beaming, and you heard, just barely, a very giddy chirp pass through her lips. How… interesting.

Remarkably, you and Obi both sent out a prodding, teasing nod through your bond to Qui-Gon. In response, he sent back a firm warning not to say anything. He was timid about the budding feelings he had for Shmi. Less than a month ago, Shmi had been a slave and there was somewhat of a power imbalance between her and Qui-Gon. Everything she currently had, she had because Qui-Gon had seen fit to retrieve her from Tatooine. Her new clothing she had been given was so much finer than anything she had ever seen, she had cried when Qui-Gon had given them to her, hands shaking as she had taken them.

As you all ate the food prepared for lunch, the wonderfully fresh salad and simple but tasty cucumber sandwiches were the perfect post training meal. Maul, a carnivore through and through, had a lovely looking plate of baked fish with a violent sauce on top. Curious, you took your fork, reaching over and skewering a small bite of the fish with a bit of sauce on it.

Maul snorted, glaring playfully at you. "Excuse me? How rude!"

You stuck your tongue out at him, "Hush, I just want a taste."

"Well, perhaps, you could ask me before helping yourself to my food?" Maul said, a chastising tone that was clearly still teasing.

"Hmm… I'll consider it." You said, finally taking a bite of his fish. The sauce was fruity and citrusy, equal parts sweet and tart. You grinned, "Yum! Can I have some more?"

Qui-Gon cleared his throat, "Y/N, Obi, were going to be having some visitors over for dinner. A few Counts that will want to speak to the three of us. They're interested in the idea of a new force using academy here on Serenno, and if tonight goes well, they could be counted on to support us when we present the idea to the rest of the nobility on Serenno."

"So, we have to schmooze with a couple rich people and seem interesting enough so they'll want the status that they think might come from having their own academy of force users on their planet?" You asked.

"Exactly." Dooku confirmed. "And it would behoove all three of you to put an emphasis on how much stronger Serennos presence in the galaxy would be with the establishment of such an academy. One not controlled by the republic, not with the despised reputation of the Sith."

You paused, "What about Maul? Is he attending as well?"

An air of tense unease settled over the table, Qui-Gon hesitantly saying, "Nobility on Serenno is… not the friendliest to aliens."

He looked at Maul, "Coupled with your somewhat unsettling appearance, and your past as a Sith Lord, I fear you being present would have a negative affect on our goals."

"Besides," Master Dooku chimed in, "We have another mission for you, one we should discuss privately, this evening."

You frowned, glancing from Dooku, to Qui-Gon, to Maul. You didn't like the sound of that. Maul's presence in your mind was like a hand in your back, rubbing soothing circles into tight muscles. 'Calm yourself. Anything they request of me, I shall be able to accomplish.'

You calmed yourself, finishing your meal silently as Anakin questioned why he couldn't come.

Dooku smiled fondly at the child, explaining that on Serenno, manners at social gatherings were complicated and intricate, and Anakin did not know them yet, so he would only make the dinner uncomfortable. "But do not fear, apprentice, your instruction with decorum, manners, proper speaking, and overall etiquette will start very soon."

Anakin frowned, "That sounds awful."

"It will be." You told him.

As lunch ended, you moved to join Maul while he went to speak with Qui-Gon and Dooku. Master Qui-Gon held up a hand, shaking his head, “Just Maul.”

You frowned, looking at Maul. “Why can’t I join?”

Maul seemed to not know, turning to Qui-Gon as well. “I don’t see why not.”

“It’s a sensitive subject.” Dooku piped up. “One we would like to discuss only with you. You may tell her later, if you wish.”

A look was exchanged between you and Maul, who cracked an amused grin at your pout. He took you chin between his thumb and pointer finger, “Go draw a bath, little one. I’ll be there shortly.”

Huffing, you left the room, going to your bedroom and doing as Maul had asked. Maul, you had discovered quickly, absolutely loved baths. It was a bit amusing to you, that this feared and terrifying Sith Lord, was a sucker for bubble baths and cuddling. You had a suspicion that it was something to do with his Zabrak biology, as Maul’s behavior reminded you somewhat of a grumpy loth cat. Craving pets and attention, but having to pretend he did not. The nest you had complied on your bed was such a comfort to Maul, he almost spent more time in it than you did.

Countless hours had been spent wrapped around each other in that nest, Maul’s little half purrs vibrating his chest and lulling you into many naps.

By the time the bath was ready and you had sunken into it, bringing a very full glass of wine into the bath with you, Maul finally walked in. He raised an eyebrow at you, a gentle smile on his face as he began to disrobe, intent on joining you. Part of you hoped for a nice, long session of making love, but you could sense something troubling Maul.

“Alpha?” You questioned.

Maul slipped into the tub behind you, plucking your wine glass from your hand and taking a large sip. His eyes met yours, a look of hesitance on his face. He wasn’t certain if he wanted to tell you or not.

You leaned into his chest, chirping comfortingly and releasing your scent to calm him. “Only if you want to.”

He sighed, steadying himself for a moment. “They want me to travel to Dathomir to speak with my mother.”

You sat up a little straighter, taking your wine glass away from Maul and setting it on the far end of the tub. “You’ve never mentioned your mother.”

“I do not remember her.” Maul admitted. “I… I think I had a brother, but I’m not sure. The boy I remember might have just been another Nightbrother around my age. However, apparently Count Dooku was well aware of who my mother was… he and Sidious were… in contact for a time.”

“Why was Sidious in contact with Dooku?” You asked, afraid of the answer.

“Dooku assumes he was a back up plan if I were to ever fail.” Maul explained. “He shared some information with Dooku to gain his trust. Including who my mother is…”

“Is she… significant?” You asked.

“She has the title of Mother.” Maul said, a tone of respect in his voice. “She leads the Nightsisters, and they are all loyal to her. They ever aided her in overthrowing the last Mother, which tells me… she is either a very skilled liar, or a very good leader.”

You let Maul talk, intent to listen to his words.

“Dooku is requesting I meet with her, show her my strength, and forge an alliance between us. Qui-Gon seems fixated on taking some of the nightbrothers as apprentices.” Maul explained.

“Just Nightbrothers? No Nightsisters?” You questioned.

“Your Master does not seem fond of the females of my race. I do not blame him.” Maul said gruffly. “Spoiled, entitled cunts.”

Surprised by his language, you stiffened, retracting from him. Maul visibly softened, placing his hands on your waist and pulling you back into his chest. A small coo left him, an apology. He hadn’t meant to upset you. Your nose bumped along his jawline, rubbing some of his scent off. One of his gruff little half purrs left his chest, happy that he was forgiven.

“I agreed to go speak to my mother.” Maul said softly. “On the condition that you be allowed to join me, if you wish.”

“You want me to meet your mother?” You asked, surprised.

“I want…” Maul’s words failed him, so he opened your bond a bit wider. Invited into his complicated mix of feelings, you understood now. He was nervous about meeting his mother, about learning the circumstances that had led to him being taken by Sidious. He didn’t want to face a possibly painful reality alone. He wanted you to be there with him, to be there for him.

You kissed him, “Of course, alpha.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vomits onto a page** "There ya go."

**Author's Note:**

> Anakin is adorable and I will take no criticism on that. Where is this story going? IDK, I started writing chapter two and it went off the rails almost immediately. Plot?? In my story?? How did that get there??


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